Think Before You Speak
by Twiggy Otaku
Summary: When the war is done and peace has finally arrived, the Akatsuki come back, not only have they regrouped but they've brought back new members with them. But what if some of the members want out? What if some want to start over completely? What if the new members can't actually speak Japanese? What will happen to the Akatsuki then? Apologies now for bad translations...REVIEW PLEASE
1. Chapter 1

Raven hair floated gently across the broad shoulders of Uchiha Itachi, he walked briskly across the busy streets and into the park where he was to meet the rest of the fellow Akatsuki members. The time was coming for them to return to the world of Naruto, they had all been hiding in this world until the war was over and they could leave in peace. He arrived third after Deidara and Tobi; the two had rarely been separated after they both arrived here, Itachi nodded quickly in greeting, "It's been a while Deidara-san."

"ITA-CHAN," Tobi bounded onto the back of the older Uchiha, "WHY YOU NO SAY HI TO TOBI-CHAN? TOBI IS A GOOD BOY."

Itachi sighed; he knew that this version of Tobi was just a cover, hiding the evil being inside. Tobi was supposed to have been fighting and dying in the war but that was only a doppelganger, Tobi was the one who kept the Akatsuki alive in this world, Tobi wasn't finished with them yet. Itachi lowered his voice so Tobi was the only one to hear, "Why are we going back now?"

Tobi's voice grew low like Itachi's but darker at the same time, "The war is over, and it's time to go back."

"Why do you need us?"

"You'll see soon enough Ita-chan."

"Are we all here yet?" Sasori's impatient voice interrupted any further questions Itachi had for Tobi, "I don't like waiting."

Deidara snorted in the presence of the puppet master, "That's just like you. We're still waiting on Pein-sama un."

"Not anymore," Pein walked out of the trees accompanied by Konan, Kakuzu and Kisame. The four stood in a semi-circle with Pein at the top, "Shall we start now?"

Itachi watched Pein with cold eyes, "I thought you were originally Nagato."

"Madara thought it best for me to have only the one body while in this world," Pein shared the same knowledge of Tobi that Itachi did, so the man 'Madara' to everyone else was Tobi to them, "And after we go back. So, shall we start or do you have any more questions?"

"Hn."

The eight Akatsuki members formed a circle, each one began a series on hand signs moving faster than the human eye could see, and none speaking until Pein lifted his head, "Crossing Worlds Jutsu."

* * *

A binding light could be seen from passers-by before they forgot that a group had even stood there.

The light shone through the dark forest, separating into eight beams, then tacking the form of each member. Each member had their cloaks on, looking grave yet successful, the dark forest only adding to the tension and excitement each of them felt. Sasori was the first to move and comment, "I'm not a puppet. I thought I would be a puppet again once we got back."

"That aside for now, we are our own people," Pein, dreaded leader of the Akatsuki, stood in the centre of them all, his authority was hard to ignore, "You all have a choice now, stay with us or leave and be hunted down. I will not allow any knowledge of the Akatsuki to be leaked like last time, this is our second chance to get it right, this is a new beginning for us." No one moved, no wanted to leave the Akatsuki, "That being the case the first order of business would be to re-gather Hidan from wherever he was buried."

"I would try somewhere in Konoha," Kakuzu gave advice after remembering his fight with the leaf ninja; "He went off and fought with some kid called Shikamaru and never came back."

"Then you and Deidara shall go to collect him, find Shikamaru and find Hidan," Pein nodded as the two vanished, "The rest of us need somewhere to stay. Any ideas?"

"Oh Tobi knows," Tobi bounced in a circle and pointed into some trees to where a beaten down mansion stood; "We can go and live in that big house just over there. No one will miss it."

_He had this planned_, speaking in his mind, Itachi could see through his fellow Uchiha's more innocent disguise, it was nothing but a rouge, but it was a rouge that worked. He turned to the leader and spoke out loud, "Pein-sama?"

Pein moved first, "It will do, Konan-san send Kakuzu and Deidara a message informing them. Starting now the Akatsuki is back."

* * *

Sasuke sat up with a snap, something was wrong, something was…off. He threw off his bed sheets and burst through his door, he began to bang rapidly on the bedroom next to his, "Naruto wake up."

The war had finished a few months ago and Sasuke had moved in with Naruto as part of the condition that he could move back to Konoha. He and Naruto had defeated Tobi and united the five ninja villages for the first time ever, everything and everyone was finally at peace but just now something, something wasn't right, "Naruto wake up right now."

"What do you want Teme, I'm trying to sleep," Naruto came out of his bedroom, half asleep and complaining like usual, "If you had a bad dream go bother someone else…"

"It wasn't a dream Dobe, something isn't right. I'm not sure what it is yet but something isn't right," Sasuke stared seriously at his friend; it was the same feeling he had after he defeated Itachi, something felt wrong, unnatural, and unfinished, "We need to find out what it is."

Naruto stared at the Uchiha; Sasuke's face was paler than usual, he was frantic and chewing on his nail. After shrugging it off as something Sasuke ate Naruto gave a final yawn and turned back to his bedroom, "Night Teme, I'm going back to bed."

"Naruto…"

* * *

"Itachi-san," Konan found the tired Uchiha scrubbing away at the grime cover benches after all the other members had fallen asleep well over an hour ago, "I take it that you are an obsessive cleaner then?"

Itachi nodded softly and scrubbed harder, "And you Konan-san? I don't believe you came out here for a midnight snack but I have been mistaken before."

"I actually came out here looking for you."

"Hn?" Konan left the room, Itachi following behind like a stray pup that lost his mother. She led him through the house and into Pein's room, the leader nodded at Itachi's presence. He wasn't going to admit the fact that he was confused until he saw four large sacks on the ground that he was certain that he didn't see before, "What are they?"

"These are our ticket to freedom."

Confusion burrowed further into the Uchiha's brain, "Would you care to explain Pein-sama?"

"Let's be frank Itachi-san, you and I both know that Tobi is going to use us then kill us when he is finished," Pein moved around the sack and grabbed Konan's hand, it was obvious that they cared deeply, more than friend deeply, for each other, "Konan and I want to start all over again with each other and forget the past crimes we have committed. You want to be free as well; you want to get back to your family. Therefore you and I share the same target, Uzumaki Naruto."

"Uzumaki? Why would I go after him?"

"He is friends with your brother if I'm not mistaken."

Itachi nodded and swore silently, "And what is Uzumaki to you?"

"He is a friend and we wish to thank him for what he has done for us," Pein let go of Konan so he could grab hold to the four sacks, "But first we must free ourselves from Tobi which is where these four come in. I 'borrowed' them from the other world we came from; they have an unusual talent unlike anyone else in their world. In that world no one has been able to break through the barrier which holds back their chakra, these four have broken through but don't know it yet so they have been training it without knowing."

Confusion wormed its way back into Itachi's mind, "I don't see how that will help us."

"They also have seen our world through the programme 'Naruto', I believe you've had a brush with some of its fan-made stories," Pein noticed the tiniest of blushes cross the Uchiha's face, "So they know who they need to trust. Tobi is looking for some new recruits to train under the Akatsuki and I'm going to offer him these four. However there is one problem…"

He opened the sacks which held a frightened teenaged girl, about seventeen years old, each inside of them. The first girl was quite tall with short blonde hair and an athletic build, the second was of Asian descent and was just taller than the last, the third looked to be the youngest of them all with long brown hair and was quite petit, the last girl had slightly darker skin than the rest and long wavy black hair. All the girls were wearing a white blouse, navy blue pencil skirt and black ballet flats, a boring school uniform if Itachi ever saw one. Four pairs of eyes watched him cautiously, they all looked completely frazzled which made Itachi wonder how long they had been trapped in those sacks. The smallest one turned to the Asian, "Hadu deej oud?"

Itachi was indeed shocked, Pein sighed and nodded softly, "Yes, they don't speak Japanese."


	2. Chapter 2

"Yeah Teme has been acting really weird ever since last night," Naruto gave a large yawn and rubbed the back of his head like Sasuke's strange behaviour was no big deal, "Don't worry Sakura-chan I reckon it's just something he ate."

Sakura eyed him cautiously; Sasuke was currently brooding by the trees while she and Naruto trained, and she just didn't' like the look on his face, "It's like he's seen a ghost or something."

"Don't even joke about ghost Sakura-chan…"

"You're such a wuss," she gave her close friend a warm smile before turning back to look at her long time crush, "Do you think he still feels guilty about Itachi-san?"

"Wouldn't put it past him, I don't think he'll ever forgive himself for that."

The sound of a small explosion erupted from behind the duo, Kakashi stepped out of soft white clouds and gave his students a friendly wave, "Sorry I'm late, there was this cat who…"

"SHUT IT SENSEI."

"DON'T YOU GIVE US ANY OF THAT."

Kakashi just sighed in defeat, why couldn't they go back to being the cute little idiots he grew to love? "Alright team I have a special mission for you today."

Any sentence with the word 'special' in it always peaked Naruto's interests, "Like what Sensei?"

"Well it will be you and Shikamaru's team working together on this. Someone went and buried some precious family heirloom before the war started to keep it safe and now they can't find it, so we're sending you guys to go retrieve it."

Sakura was about to complain about the idiot before something clicked in her mind, "Can't you send Kiba-kun's team or Neji-san's, I mean Kiba-kun's team is made for tracking and Neji-san has the Byakugan. Not to mention Lee-kun's never ending determination. Why can't they go?"

"Team Gai is currently in the land of Tea," Kakashi pulled out his favourite edition of the make out series and began to walk over to Sasuke, "And Team Kurenai is staying close by for when she gives birth, so you two are going instead."

Naruto could not believe his ears, "What! You mean, you and Teme get to stay behind while Sakura-chan and I have to go dig around in the forest?"

"That's right," Kakashi hit his forehead softly as he remembered one other detail, "Sai is waiting for you two at the gates, I was supposed to tell you yesterday but it must've slipped my mind. Sasuke however is coming to a meeting with me, he'll catch up later."

They wanted to argue some more but Kakashi waved them off and continued towards Sasuke, he hated lying to those two but he needed to have a word with Sasuke alone. The Uchiha never realised his Sensei's presence until the very last minute, "What is it Kakashi Sensei?"

"Just wondering how you were settling in, I know some of the villagers haven't quite yet forgiven your little…escapades," Kakashi stood face to face with Sasuke, neither were scared or friendly with each other, the bond between them was built out of respect for each other's abilities as ninja, "And the majority of those people are determined to keep you away from Naruto."

Sasuke turned his head away defiantly, never admitting how troubled he was feeling about it, "Whatever, that's the least of my worries."

"Something else on your mind?"

"Something's coming, something big and full of trouble. I'm just not sure what it is yet."

Kakashi couldn't help but admire Sasuke's honesty and sincerity about his thoughts, maybe things can go back to normal after time.

Give time some time to get here.

* * *

"Which kid are we after un?" Deidara's patience was wearing thin, before them were three kids, **kids**, and Kakuzu was acting like they were elite ninja, "I want to get back before Tobi destroys the place un."

Kakuzu was too busy watching the Shikamaru kid to take any notice of Deidara's ramblings. The kid took down Hidan, an immortal and deadly ninja, practically by himself. Kakuzu didn't know how he did it but he was certain that he wasn't going to let it happen to him. Deidara went to open his mouth again but Kakuzu shut it instantly, "The kid with spiky black hair and the bored expression, don't let that fool you though, he's smarter than he looks."

"Must be to have taken down Hidan un."

"You give him no honorifics."

"He doesn't deserve one; he is no friend of mine un."

"Agreed," Kakuzu leaned forwards a bit more, he couldn't let the ninja know that the Akatsuki were back but he couldn't see how he could get the information out of the brat otherwise. He was about to give in a go with Deidara's 'bomb the shit out of him' plan when three more ninja arrived, he recognised two of them; the pink haired ne and the nine tails who beat him.

"Hey Shikamaru-kun, we're here," the nine tails hadn't changed at all, still as loud and as obnoxious as the two Akatsuki members could remember, "Sorry we're late, Kakashi Sensei only told us about five minutes ago."

Shikamaru shrugged lazily, "No skin off my nose, where do you want to start searching?"

"If we split up we can cover more ground," the fat kid managed to form words through the massive amounts of chips he was shovelling into his mouth, "Mind you we don't have to go looking in the Nara family's forest."

"What do you mean?" the pink haired girl looked completely confused at the statement, "Why not?"

Shikamaru smirked softly at the group, "I've already checked it through, there's nothing there except for some deer and Hidan's forever rotting corpse."

Kakuzu and Deidara shared a small glance before moving off silently; they've got the location, now all they need is to collect the immortal man from his tomb. Soon the Akatsuki would be complete again.

* * *

Everyone at the hideout had gathered in the kitchen, since it was the only room actually clean thanks to Itachi's obsessive need to clean. Pein stood silently over the group until their unfriendly hush became a silence ready for orders. He knew exactly what was going to happen now, "The other two haven't returned have they?"

"No Pein-sama," Tobi chirped happily as though it was the happiest moment of his life, "They're still out looking for Hidan-chan."

"Right," Pein nodded to himself and turned to Sasori and Kisame, "I need you two to go out and gather supplies for everyone, keep your profiles low. Konan-san, try to find where Zetsu is hiding so we can get him back. Tobi and Itachi, I need your help with something." Everyone moved off as ordered, the two Uchiha's following their 'leader' through the old mansion until they reached the door leading into Pein's room, Pein turned to the two before opening the door, "Tobi-sama, Itachi and I have gathered some new recruits for your inspection. They are in here."

He opened the door to reveal the four girls still sleeping in a huddle on the floor, the tallest of the group opened a sleepy eye at the sound of people entering the room. She slowly closed it again and her breathing dropped back in the even pattern of sleep. Tobi reached up and removed his mask slowly, "Who are these girls? And where did you find them?"

Pein walked forwards and looked over the small group he had collected, "They're all from the other world we came from so no one can find them. Their chakra is more powerful than the ninja's here, in their world chakra can go untapped for years but these girls have somehow have tapped into it and it has merged with their very being."

"And coming here would only heighten the abilities they can perform," Tobi walked slowly around then, assessing their usefulness to him silently as he went, "They could do wondrous things if trained correctly. A force the no ninja from this world will have ever seen before. I believe that I will find a use for them, you both have done well."

He immediately left again, satisfied with the new recruits, Itachi and Pein followed along behind. Itachi waited until the door was closed and the girls could rest without the voices of men almost disrupting their sleep, "The only thing is that they can't speak any Japanese."

"Not a problem, they can learn as they train," Tobi brushed aside the matter quickly, a language barrier was easily conquered, "We will give them until tomorrow to rest properly and then you shall begin training them. And if by some chance they have seen the show, well," Tobi slowly put his mask back on, "They will just have to talk with Tobi-chan."

* * *

"They think they know so much," the tall girl rose from her spot on the floor, collapsing the huddle and effectively waking the rest of her friends, "They didn't even ask if I could speak Japanese."

The blonde girl rubbed her eyes softly, "_May, we can't understand you when you speak that language, which one was it again?_"

"_Japanese,_" May undid her black ponytail and brushed her hair with her long fingers, "_Sorry I was just talking to myself. Are the other two awake?_"

The dark skin girl nodded as she sat up, "_I am, not too sure about Elle though._"

"_Am so Tay,_" the smallest of the girls frowned at her friends, "_I've totally been awake ever since the door opened._"

"_Oh, then yes, yes she is awake_."

"_You're an idiot._"

May stood over by the door and listened to see if the Akatsuki members had gone, "_You heard what they were saying right?_"

The blonde girl stood up and stretched her back, "_I heard it, doesn't mean I understood what they were saying._"

"_Sorry Abi, apparently they're going to train us to be Akatsuki members._"

"_Hey that's actually really cool,_" Elle bounced on her toes before bending into a back arch as a wake up stretch, "_We must be special if the Akatsuki want us_."

"_They were talking about how we have unique ,more powerful, chakra than the ninja here. It's mainly because of where we're from…_"

"_New Zealand?_"

"_Another world genius, that's the only reason as to why we're so special_," May turned back to her friends slowly, "_I'm not sure if we should play along though, I mean we cou- what the hell is Tay doing?_"

Tay had a huge blush spread across her face, outshone only by her smile, and she was rapidly trying to make her hair look tidy. Abi poked her in the side but got no reaction, she sighed, "_I think she's gone crazy_."

They were about to question further before Tay opened her mouth, "_Tobi wants me_."

The other three girls groaned in unison, Tay had to be the biggest Tobi fan girl they had ever met. She was going to try and sink her little claws into Tobi the best she could or else just fantasize about him the whole time they were here. May walked to the door and took a deep breath in, "_Shall we go meet our comrades then?_"

* * *

Itachi whirled his head around, did a door just open? He got the feeling that he was about to meet the new members and have their very first conversation. It was the tall girl first, the rest following behind in height order, she stepped forwards and cleared her throat, "May."

"Hn?" what the heck did May mean, did she think it was the month? He looked at her more carefully as she held out her hand towards him.

She looked directly into his eyes, "May."

He finally clicked, that was her name, he returned her gesture and gripped lightly onto her hand, "Itachi, it is nice to meet you May-chan."

The rest of the girls peered around May's side, it was quite amusing to see all the faces looking curiously at the different levels, they all smiled after seeing Itachi return the greeting. The next to offer him her hand was the blonde, "Abi."

"Hello, Abi-chan."

Next was the dark skin girl, she seemed to be looking for someone, "Tay."

"Tay-chan."

Lastly the small girl bounced up and waved happily, "Hsie Itachi-san," she pointed at herself, "Elle."

He smiled softly at the bouncing girl, he gripped her hand and shook it softly, "It's nice to meet you too Elle-chan."

"I see that they're awake," Pein walked into the kitchen to see Itachi surrounding by the new girls, not only smiling, but sincerely looking like he was having a good time, "I wonder what their names are…"

Itachi pushed each of the girls into a line and waved his hand above each head, "May, Abi, Tay and Elle. Girls this is Pein-sama."

"Hsie Pein-sama," the girls chorused to the Akatsuki leader, everyone smiling in their own unique way. They didn't stay still for long, after greeting him they immediately went looking around the kitchen speaking in their native tongue, "Sjif dkfwioe, dfk ojke?"

"Jhdwf."

"Uhiwd!"

"Hehe, j jidf iuje."

"They're quite the talkative bunch aren't they," Pein walked over to join the Uchiha just watching the girls bustled around their new surroundings, "They might bring a bit of life to this group. I wonder what Tobi will think about that?"

A dark chill ran down Pein's back, the chirpy voice had a tone of warning, "I think Tobi won't mind too much," Tobi stepped past the two and bounced to the smallest of girls, "Heya, I'm Tobi-chan."

"TOBI-CHAN," the girl hugged him tightly and squeaked happily, "Njdh ai s, kdh idhioe djs Elle-chan."

"Tobi thinks Elle-chan is so cute, what does Elle-chan think?"

Itachi sighed and mumbled do only Pein could hear him, "You'd think he'd drop the act until they knew a few more words."

"You would think," Pein smirked and kept his voice just as low as Itachi's, "But then again, how often do you get to see the big bad guy act like a silly teddy bear?"

Unknown to them, May was standing close enough to hear. She giggled to herself and began to relay the conversation to the rest of her group. These girls were organised and they were going to scare the bad guys if it was the last thing they did.


	3. Chapter 3

Deidara walked in a small circle, outlining the area that they believed to have Hidan buried beneath it. It was mainly due to the vibrations they could feel beneath their feet. He crouched in the middle of the circle and pressed the tips of his finger to the ground, "How do we get him out without anyone noticing un?"

"Let's just do it the easy way," Kakuzu roughly pulled the blonde up and jumped them both into the trees, "Bomb the area and we'll collect the remains."

"If you say so un…" Konan had sent them both tools (bombing clay for Deidara) earlier that afternoon, so Deidara quickly moulded a few simple sculptures and threw them down into the circle he outlined with his footprints. Small clay spiders scuttled around forming a strange pattern before blowing up at Deidara's will.

The process continued until a head of muddy silver hair was revealed, "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

"I found Hidan un," Deidara called to Kakuzu, who had been collecting the scattered body parts that came flying out in the explosions, then reached down and picked up the cursing head, "Let's go un."

Kakuzu nodded and began off, he had collected most of the important parts of Hidan but they could just find whatever was left on others, they couldn't stay around the village any longer now that they've set of multiple explosions. He could already hear the Nara family heading out to find what had disrupted the deer in the forest. At least they've completed the mission and they can go back now.

* * *

Sasuke watched with slightly shaken eyes as Naruto cooked himself some Ramen, for dinner, again. The young Uchiha sighed and grabbed the nearly cooked instant meal off the table, "How can you eat this crap day in and day out?"

"What's your problem?" Naruto pouted as Sasuke tipped his precious ramen down the sink, never to be eaten by the Uzumaki, "Is this because of that thing you've been moaning on about? If it's bugging you that much go find it and put an end to it."

"I would but one, I'm not allowed to leave the village…"

"Then I'll go do it."

"…and two, I'm not entirely sure what it is," the rare moment when Sasuke hesitated became clear to Naruto and the Uchiha flopped back into his chair, "I don't know what is bugging me so much."

"Just relax Teme, it'll come to you soon enough."

The apartment door began to shake heavily under the pressure of someone's repetitive knocking, the door was open but no one came barging in like the duo expected. The door continued to vibrate violently until Sasuke finally crossed the room to open it, "Keep your pants on."

He opened the door only to be hug-tackled by a cherry blossom dripping in tears, "SASUKE-KUN…"

"Sakura-chan," he groaned and tried to pry the crying girl off his person, "Let me go, what's with you?"

"Sasuke-kun, I'm so glad you're here," Sakura managed to stop her weeping long enough to form understandable words to her teammates, "Everyone thought it was you who unburied him but since you're here that means you can't have been otherwise Naruto would've seen you do it…"

Naruto crossed the room to join the two, one crying and one extremely confused, determined to find what had spooked the crying one so much, "Sakura-chan, what are you talking about?"

Shikamaru barged in before she could answer, his reaction was in complete contrast to Sakura's, "Where have you been Uchiha?"

"He's been with me ever since we came back from the mission earlier," Naruto was quick to defend his best friend since Sakura hadn't yet let go of him, "What's going on?"

Shikamaru frowned, obviously not happy that the Uchiha had a reliable alibi, "Someone has trespassed in the Nara family forest and taken the remains of Hidan."

"The guy from the Akatsuki?"

"One and the same," his eyes narrowed viciously at Sasuke, his suspicions were clear to everyone in the room, "And there is only one member of the Akatsuki left…"

Sasuke's eyes snapped to the Nara, his concern only at the accusations being thrown at him, "What about Zetsu? He got away during the war, he could've come back to get Hidan."

"Zetsu is currently being held in Suna where Gaara-sama is keeping a very close eye on his activities. There is no way he can be in two places at once."

"I've been with Naruto, how can I be in two places at once?"

"You could make a clone."

"SHIKAMARU," Sakura finally let go of Sasuke but just so she could yell at Shikamaru, "Sasuke-kun is clean, there is no way he could've been digging up Hidan, you said yourself that it was a two person job so it couldn't have been Sasuke-kun."

"Whatever," Shikamaru gave a final glare before turning to leave, "I have a mess to clean up anyway."

Team Kakashi shared a small moment of silence, why would anyone want to dig up the Akatsuki?

* * *

Sasori was frowning at the sight before him, while Kisame was laughing quietly to himself. Their kitchen was full of teenage girls and they were talking very loudly, the worst part was Sasori and Kisame had no idea what the girls were saying.

"Jdi heh fhuwkf f,rf rf?"

"Hje!"

Sasori dumped his sack of food on the counter, "What the hell is going on here?"

"Ah Sasori-san, you're back," Itachi nodded to his presence and began to rummage through the sack, clearly not worrying about the four girls running around, "What did you find?"

"Who are they?"

"Who?"

"The brats running around speaking in tongue."

"Oh them? They're the new members," Itachi pulled out some fish and rice and turned to the stove, "The tall one is May and the blonde who she is talking to is Abi. The girl laughing hysterically is Tay and the girl trying to get a piggyback from Kisame is Elle."

Kisame was laughing and helped the girl onto his back, "New members huh? I guess this place could use a little bit more life. How do you do Elle-chan?"

Elle smiled and giggled happily, "Jdhu Kisame-san."

"I think they understand when you're saying hello but otherwise you'll have to act out what you want them to do," Itachi tried to turn on the stove, then after realising there was no electricity set it alight himself, and began to cook some rice and fish, "Besides that they seem to be quite a happy bunch, but I suggest we keep an eye on them for a while."

Sasori scoffed and slumped into a chair that had managed to worm its way into the kitchen, "Babysitting? I'm not going to babysit a group of squeaking teenaged girls just because they cannot take care of themselves, you got the brats you look after them."

"Orders from Pein-sama is that we all look after them, so you'll be 'babysitting' whether you like it or not."

* * *

Elle tilted her head from her seat on Kisame's back, "_What are they talking about?_"

"_Us,_" May smirked at the thought that they didn't know she could understand Japanese,"_Sasori-san doesn't want to babysit us._"

Sasori looked over at May and frowned, "Akudou watashinitsuite hanashite iru ka?"

Tay stopped laughing long enough to question, "_What did he say?_"

"_He knows we're talking about him and he doesn't like it_," May smirked and went over to get Elle off Kisame's back, "_He called us brats again before grumbling incoherently. Anyway can you go help Itachi-san cook, he looks like he's gonna burn the rice soon._"

"_Okey chockey_," Elle jumped down and ran over to the stove, grabbing the spoon off Itachi so she could help with the rice, "_I can stir and Itachi-san can cook the fish._"

Itachi stared blankly for a bit before picking up what Elle was doing. He nodded quickly before turning back to the fish, "Arigato Elle-chan."

"_That means thank you right May?_"

"_Yes_"

"_Cool, I know Japanese_."

Tay began to laugh again, she was mainly excited about the fact she was living under the same roof as Tobi, "_How long do you reckon it'll take for them to figure out you understand them?_"

"_By the time they realise it, everyone will already speak Japanese fluently_," Abi smirked softly at the idea, "_So I don't think we have to worry about that at all_."

May began to rummage through the sacks of food Sasori had brought back, most of it was rice or fish but there were a few herb scattered in it, she let go of the sack and wondered around the kitchen a bit more. There was nothing more of interest here; the cupboards were bare, besides the pots in use and a couple of serving plates with chopsticks, the only furniture was a few benches, a stove, and a chair that was currently holding Sasori. The only thing interesting about the kitchen was the fact that it was spotless, she guessed it was due to someone's need to keep things clean. She turned to Abi and pointed out the door, "_You wanna go explore a bit?_"

"_Hell yeah._"

They left the kitchen with little protest from the others, the house was definitely an old mansion of sorts that looked to have been uninhabited for years. There were about seven bedrooms, three bathrooms, one kitchen, a living room and a huge yard. The other obvious factor was that every single spot of the mansion was old, broken, hazardess to your health, or filthy to the core, besides the kitchen was clean. The two found a large bedroom upstairs that the girls could call theirs, the best part was the balcony that revealed a wondrous view.

Abi sighed and leaned lightly on the breaking railing, "_What are we going to do May?_"

"_About what?_" May was confused with her friend's sudden change in attitude, she was quite upbeat a moment ago.

"_Our world, can we ever go back or are we stuck here forever?_"

"_Either way it's out of our control, if we're stuck here there's nothing we can do but live_."

"_What about everyone we know?_"

"_We'll…just have to move on_."

"_That's so unfair_," Abi began to grip the railing tighter, tears forming in the corners of her eyes, "_It's not like we even had a choice and now…_"

May wrapped her around her friends shoulder and patted the blonde head in comfort, "_I know Abi, I know._"

* * *

Tobi ran into the kitchen and effectively knocked Sasori off of his chair, "TOBI IS A GOOD BOY."

"Tobi," Sasori climbed off the floor, an evil energy emitting off him, and looked directly at the idiotic man, "You have three seconds to leave before I destroy your very being."

Tobi began to cry childishly, bowing repeatedly to the puppet master, "Forgive me Sasori-chan, Tobi-chan didn't mean it."

"Don't call me Sasori-chan."

"Okay, Sasori-san."

Sasori groaned, knowing that was the best name he was going to get, he turned his attention to the cooking duo, "How much longer do I have to wait? No longer being a puppet really makes you hungry, I almost forgot what it felt like."

"Tay-chan," Elle called to her friend and pointed at the serving plate that was now loaded with rice, "Hhsie ns hud en ad," she pointed upstairs in a vague manner, "Hui I e jad."

Tay nodded, grabbed the dish, and began her way upstairs. Itachi grabbed the other plate, which was filled with fish, and Elle grabbed the chopsticks before the two headed upstairs as well. Sasori cursed silently and began to cook his own food.

Upstairs Tay had reached the other girls and the three were sitting on the floor waiting patiently for the rest to arrive, the moment the fish was placed down the girls dived into it like they had never eaten in their lives. Itachi watched them carefully; May was mastering the chopsticks well, Abi held them together and either stabbed or scooped up her food, Tay was just picking at it with her fingers while Elle appeared to be cursing whenever the fish or rice fell off, which was nearly every time. He knew that they had a long way to go before they could even think about calling themselves ninja, he didn't know how much they could actually help him be reunited with his brother.

May noticed the silent man not eating, she held out Tay's unused chopsticks to him, "Itachi-san."

He nodded gently and took the eating utensils away from her, "Thank you May-chan," he didn't trust many people but there was some sort of innocence about them. He would have to train them well, he wasn't going to let Tobi destroy the innocence that has already been stolen by the evil man.


	4. Chapter 4

**A.N. I don't own Naruto, Skyrim or any other references to any books, games, Anime etc.**  
**Should have mentioned this earlier but I didn't so there. Anyway always open for ideas/pairings/etc so Review Please!**

* * *

Konan yawned softly as she entered the only clean room in the house, the only others awake were Kisame, Tobi and herself, so she highly doubted there to be much conversation. She was wrong.

"What does Kisame-chan think of the new members?" Tobi was bouncing on the spot, full of energy so it was apparent that he had already eaten, "And what does Konan-chan think? And when do we get to play with them?"

Kisame smirked at the idiot's remark, "Ninja do not play Tobi, we train."

"Oh, then when do we get to train them?"

"Starting today they will start training," Konan eyed Tobi carefully, she didn't like playing the fool but it had to be done in this situation, "Itachi-san and Kisame-kun will be training them today."

"I'm glad I was informed."

"Tobi-chan wants to help train them," Tobi sulked against the nearby counter, "Kisame-chan and Ita-chan always get all the fun…"

A small gasp from the doorway made them all turn…

* * *

Tay stood frozen in the doorway, Tobi was standing directly in front of her, she became so excited and ran straight to him. She knew he couldn't understand a word she was saying so she made her gestures really big, "_Oh my God Tobi you are the coolest guy ever, you're awesome and clever and cute and strong and awesome and strong. How do you do everything? You planned out the Akatsuki and played everyone for a fool but you were the mastermind behind the entire thing which was just like, NO WAY PLOT TWISTER, and it made everyone go wow. Elle-chan thinks you're a prick but I know better than that, you're just so plain cool. Oh, while in our world did you ever see a game called Skyrim…_"

* * *

Tobi frowned behind his mask, the girl in front of him was talking nonstop, he wondered if she was even breathing at times.

"Jh uyeujf huih as huh dj hiu uahd I oubs dn u dj dghab snys jdmh adid ih sjih jufhs udh hsihs ah ushd uh nd weowq uw kcnvo powmkeu nuuzy e k cpo s addf ods…"

She was defiantly not breathing. For the first time in a very long time Tobi was unsure on what to do. He couldn't tell the girl to shut up because not only would she not understand it but the others in the room would see through his disguise, even though they already knew. Her wild gestures weren't helping at all. Her arms flailed wildly, was she talking about a bird? A big bird? A really big bird? A man tied to a kite? Or was she swimming? She squeaked suddenly and her face went bright red, is she being a tomato now? He was really unsure of what to do.

* * *

"…_and then I killed another dragon and when I talked to the dude about it he offered me a house. I was like 'Yeah, bring it on beatch' but then I had to pay like three thousand gold for it. I tried to cut him but the guards started trying to kill me so I paid my fines and left. And then this dark brotherhood assassin tried to kill me but I killed him first and when I found the note it said that they had to kill…Dave? See because I named my character…Dave? So if they could actually talk like real people they would be like, "this girl has a dude's name, what's up with that?" hence why I have the dot, dot, dot Dave and then a question mark because they would be like all confused and stuff. I beat if you played Skyrim you would be a Nord or a High Elf because you know what you want and when you know it you go for it. Man I love talking to you and you listen so much…_"

* * *

Konan laughed quietly to herself, she couldn't see his face but his body structure suggested that if he could, he would be backing away from the girl. He was rigid and his head looked like someone was pushing it away from his body. She loved watching the man that was controlling them squirm when a girl began to speak to him. More giggling from the doorway made her turn her head, the rest of the girls were on the verge of laughing hysterically, obviously they could understand what Tay was saying and it must be amusing.

* * *

"…_Tobi, I want to have your babies…_"

* * *

Tobi wished that he could just disappear beneath the floor, this girl was giving him no chance to speak and she kept getting closer the longer they continued this one sided conversation. Her voice was rising steadily, her arms were flailing even wilder than before, she wore a smile that could outshine Uzumaki in a bathtub full of ramen and his crush naked and confessing their undying love to him.

Kisame laughed almost as loud as the girl was speaking, "Looks like someone is crushing on our Tobi."

Crushing? This girl was interested in him? Tobi cursed mentally, this was not part of the plan, how was he going to solve this problem?

* * *

"…_and then she ate a fish and died,_" Tay breathed in deeply, confusion suddenly swept through her, "_I don't actually have anything else to say to you. Huh_?"

Tay turned and ran back to her friends, Elle was laughing the loudest, "_You gonna marry him now Tay?_"

"_Actually,_" Tay frowned and shrugged in a bored manner, "_I don't actually find him that attractive anymore._"

"_That was fast,_" May smirked as Tay continued back to the bedroom, "_I thought she'd be obsessed with him for another couple of days._"

Abi frowned confused, "_What do you mean?_"

"_It's a child wants a toy in a shop, once they finally get it they get bored with it after five minutes and only want it again when you take it from them._"

"_Ah, nice._"

* * *

"Who the hell does Shikamaru think he is?" Sasuke was storming around the apartment cleaning to solve his stress, "Why would I ever dig up and Akatsuki member? I left them to come back here, I helped you kill Madara. Isn't that enough to prove I've changed?"

Naruto groaned to himself, Sasuke had a weird cleaning faze whenever he was pissed at someone and he always moved Naruto's stuff into unknown places, "Teme, don't touch my shit…"

"It's not my fault you leave 'your shit' everywhere. How did you live like this for all of those years?" Sasuke violently chucked some of Naruto's dirty clothes in to a basket, ready to be washed, "This place is a mess. It needs to be cleaned immediately."

Naruto sighed, there was just no getting through to Sasuke when he went on his cleaning sprees. He blamed Shikamaru and the wild accusations that went flying around last night, if that never happened Sasuke wouldn't be lecturing Naruto about keeping his room clean and doing the dishes every now and then. Naruto looked in the cupboards only to seem the empty, "I'm gonna go get some more food."

"No ramen this time."

"But Teme…"

"No Dobe."

"Humph," Naruto scowled down the busy streets on Konoha, Sasuke was really in a mood today.

A bandaged hand latched onto his shoulder, making him jump slightly in fright. Lee just smiled back at him, "You seem distracted Naruto-kun, I have been yelling at you ever since I saw you leave your apartment."

"Aye? Sorry bushy brow, I've just got a lot on my mind."

"Like Sasuke-kun?" Lee added the honorific but there was a hint of venom in his voice.

Naruto nodded, his frown deepening, "He's frustrating, hard to read at times, never forgetting the past but refusing to look to the future and when he goes off on one of his moments there is just no getting through to him. But even so," Naruto smiled, all tension dropped from his expression, and a lighter mood surrounded him, "It feels so good to have Teme back."

"It has been a while since I have seen you smile like that Naruto-kun, it is good to see," Lee was truly happy to see his friend relaxed, even if it was because of a traitor. But there was another matter that Lee wanted to discuss with Naruto, "And he was with you the other day?"

"Yes, he didn't take Hidan's body."

"I never believed he did, he would not have stuck around here if it was him. Either way, he has no clue as to who it might be?"

"He reckons that it's Zetsu because he got away during the war…"

"But Gaara-sama has Zetsu in captivity."

"Exactly so now he's reckoning that it's either a group determined to destroy the last of the Akatsuki or someone is trying to reform it."

Lee smirked yet frowned at the same time, that reasoning was just as confusing as his current facial expression, "But the only ones left alive are Hidan and Zetsu correct? That does not make any sense Naruto-kun. And if someone is trying to destroy all of the Akatsuki, would they not go after Sasuke-kun as well?"

Naruto froze suddenly in the streets, he looked at Lee desperately, "But we just got him back."

"I am not saying that is what is going on…"

"I need to tell Grandma Tsunade," Naruto began running down the road with all of his might, "I'll see you later Bushy Brow." If Sasuke was in danger then Naruto would put a stop to it before it gets to him, he wasn't going to lose Sasuke again.

* * *

Pein stood in front of the four girls, they needed new clothes immediately, their current clothing would not survive anything more than today's training and that was only because they were only going to be running. There was another problem that came to mind, how was he going to tell them what they were doing?

Konan was at his side and was thinking the exact same things, the girls were smart but it was going to be difficult to get past the language barrier. When a familiar chakra signal caught her attention a small plan popped into her head. He smiled and closed her eyes, "I'm so glad to see you again Deidara-san."

"Why's that, Konan-san un?" the blonde bomber jumped from the trees covered in dust and minor amounts of blood, "What do you want me to do now un?"

"You're going to run for us."

"Un?"

Pein latched onto the idea quickly, "Girls, you know Deidara-san correct?"

Tay pointed at the bomber, "Deidara-san."

"Yes, good," Pein looked to Deidara, "Start running around the yard," Deidara was about to question before Kakuzu pushed him. The blonde grumbled softly but started running anyway, the girls watched and their faces fell as the realisation of what they were doing fell upon them. May tilted her head, Pain took it as, "How many times?" so he held up his hands, followed by Konan's twice, she had made a clone while the girls were cringing at Deidara. Thirty fingers made the girls sag further towards the ground, it was obvious that they didn't want to run. Pein answered the question, but it wasn't the answer they were after.

Three of the girls started running, one stood there not because she was stupid but because she was refusing. Elle glared at the two standing before her then turned on her heel and walked back inside, Pein turned to Konan, "Do you get the idea that Elle-chan doesn't like us?"

* * *

"_May that was horrible_," Abi was lying face down on the floor of their bedroom after the girls had finally finished their laps, "_I can't do that again_."

May groaned with her aching muscles, she sat next to Abi and began to pat her head, "_Get used to it, there's nothing else we can do_."

Abi groaned and sat up to look at the girl sulking in the corner, "_What's with you? Yesterday you were quite happy with everyone and now you're sulking._"

Elle grumbled but looked gently at her concerned friend, "_I don't like the way Tay has been acting, it's not like you're going to marry him or anything. We're gonna go home."_

Tay rolled her eyes and sat with her non sulking friends, "Actually _I've been thinking about home and if we can ever go back. It doesn't look like the Akatsuki are going to let us go anytime soon so what? Do we just pretend we don't have families and move on?_"

May nodded and laughed slightly, "_That's exactly what we do, what did you expect us to do?_"

"_Wait, you're okay with this?_"

"_Of course not, I just see no point in trying to change the inevitable,_" May relaxed against the wall, she knew she was in for a long, tiring discussion about home, "_We need to suck it up, we're seventeen years old. We're not children any more…_"

"_But we're not adults either,_" Elle crawled closer and glared at her long-time friend, "_I've known you for eleven years so I know how you think but this is ridiculous May, we don't belong here. We should try to get home_."

"_Elle, there's no way back. Tobi would've been the one who enabled the Akatsuki to come to our world and get back here. He's the only one and if we want to go back he'll probably just kill us._"

"_I want to go home dammit_."

"_We can't._"

The two began to increase in volume, arguing about leaving and not. Tay looked over at Abi, "_Do you want to go back?_"

"_Of course but May and I already talked about this, I'm going to be good for a while,_" she held out her arms and smiled softly, "_You wanna cry a bit?_"

"_Yes please_."

* * *

Below them, in what was depicted as the living room, Itachi and Kisame shared a small glance. Itachi was cleaning the room and decided that Kisame had to help him, Kisame looked up as the sound of sobs and arguments became apparent, "What do you think they're talking about?"

Itachi looked up as well, "My best guess would be they're discussing their home world…"

"You mean they're not from this one?"

"No, hence why they don't speak Japanese. I don't even want to know what country Pein collected them from. But nothing can change that now, they're here and they've got no choice but to stay."

Kisame frowned sadly, "That's not very fair, they're just kids."

"Then what do you suggest we do, we can't take them back."

"We could give them a home, you've always wanted a family," Kisame smirked and picked up the stolen mop he was using after Itachi glared warningly at him, "Think about, four little sisters that you can train and take care of. You can 'brother' them all you want since you don't have Sasuke-kun."

"Kisame…"

"No need to get angry it's just a suggestion since they can't go home and you're lonely."

Itachi thought for a quiet moment, if there's anyone Itachi could confide in he would definitely pick Kisame, "I'm going to get out of the Akatsuki and find Otouto, even if it takes me another six, ten or twenty years."

"How noble of you."

"What about you?" Itachi turned to the man he could call a comrade, "What do you wish to do?"

Kisame shrugged vaguely, "I think I'll find that beast man in Konoha…"

"Maito Gai? I never knew you swung that way Kisame."

"He is a thrill to fight," Kisame laughed at the rare joke Itachi did, "I'll make him remember who I am even if it takes me another six, ten or twenty years."

"Don't mock me Kisame-san."

"I wouldn't think of such a thing Itachi-kun."


	5. Chapter 5

"Let's try this again," Deidara was holding back his frustration but his temper was about to boil over, "My name is Deidara, now May-chan."

May nodded, "My name is May."

He nodded approvingly at her, she wasn't the problem, "Abi-chan."

"My name Abi."

"Good, Elle-chan."

"Elle, name my?"

"Close enough," he cringed and drew in his breath, "Tay-chan."

"Dgy name hdu Tay."

Deidara facepalmed so hard his hand print left a giant red mark on his face, "No, one more time now, my name is Deidara."

"My name is May."

"My name is Abi."

"Is name my Elle."

"Ji ie sj name Tay."

"Tay-chan," Deidara felt like he was about to strangle this girl, why did he have to be put in charge of teach these girls to speak Japanese? "My name is Tay."

May whispered something in the girl's ear and Tay held out her hand, "Hello Tay-chan, my name is Deidara."

Deidara's jaw dropped with a bang, the little bitch was taking the piss out of him. He was going to murder her. His hands rose slowly and inched towards her neck…

"Deidara-san…"

The cool monotone made him jump slightly, "What can I do for you Itachi-kun?"

"You could start by retracting your hands," Itachi calmly crossed the room so he could keep the antagonised bomber away from the giggling group, "And then you can go out and find some more furniture, we've been in this mansion for nearly two weeks now and half the rooms are still empty."

"Are these orders from Pein-sama?"

"No, I just want you to go do it."

As much as Deidara hated doing what Itachi told him to, he was beginning to hate these language lessons even more. He left quickly leaving Itachi to smirk at the four girls, "You were this close Tay-chan, but I bet you four had a plan."

May nodded, "Of course we did Itachi-kun, we weren't going to let him touch any of us." May had admitted to knowing Japanese after he had noticed that she was translating some of the conversations that involved individual girls. He, in turn, agreed to help the girls with their training and keep Hidan away from them after he had been put back together a few days ago. May pulled up a bit of string which broke the floor where Deidara would have been standing, "Now we just have to fix the floor and we're all set."

Itachi chuckled slightly and pulled a blanket over the hole, "We can fix that later, for now you four can come with me."

Abi looked at May, "H I h wij iih efd a?

"He ih oij mdsh," May turned back to Itachi after answering Abi's question, "Where are we going Itachi-kun?"

The girls began to file out of the room after Itachi, passing through the house it was obvious that there had been change. Most of the mansion had been fixed and updated, it was no longer dust ridden but it had a more 'lived in' feeling about it. The girls had also changed themselves, their muscles had increased slightly from all the running, press ups, sit ups and other exercises they had done in training. Each girl also had a new outfit and attitude towards the Akatsuki.

May had black pants, a dark blue jacket, and her black hair was always tied up. She would never let any of the other members treat her as someone who is beneath them, she made sure that they knew that she would become their equal, even if it took years to do so. She kept her friends close, guarding them continuously and never left them alone unless either she or Itachi was present. She had an affinity for Ninjutsu and had been training with Itachi

Abi was wearing dark green ¾ pants with a low cut, white long sleeved top with a fish net top underneath, she also wore basic ninja shoes. She had been with Sasori mostly, learning about poisons and antidotes, and occasionally joining in on the parts of the art conversations that he had with Deidara that she could also understand. She made sure everyone of the girls were healthy after training and kept a healthy diet while they were living in the mansion.

Tay had ¾ black pants, a dark green tank top, and normal ninja shoes; she had a fingerless fishnet glove on her left hand and her long hair was often tied back in a loose bun. She had taken up an interest in Kisame and his knowledge of swords, even though she knew the least amount of Japanese, she somehow managed to hold proper conversations with him. Her interest in Tobi came and went with her mood; mostly she was interested in him whenever he was trying to talk with either Abi or May or when he was playing hide and seek with Elle.

Elle wore a black skirt, with thigh length leggings, and led red singlet top, knee high boots, and wore a fishnet top that ended at her elbows underneath. She avoided training as much as she could but when she did train she was faster than the rest of the girls, but she was lacking in upper body strength. She often just stretched in weird and wonderful ways instead of focusing on that. She didn't talk to any of the Akatsuki members except being an idiot with Tobi or talking with Itachi. She wanted to go home the most out of any of the girls and blamed the Akatsuki for separating her from her family.

All the girls waited patiently outside as Itachi had a small word with Pein, he returned shortly after holding out four Akatsuki cloaks for the girls, "We're going to go on your first mission, starting now you are all Akatsuki members."

Elle frowned, "We members?"

"Yes," Itachi knew how much she disliked the idea, he was hoping that she would change her mind after this mission and he explained everything, "Now let's move."

* * *

A damp smell lingered in the darkness, the only thing that let him know that he was still alive. He was sure that they knew he was here and making him suffer on purpose, they made him suffer because they saw the war as his fault. If he wasn't part of the Akatsuki, Tobi would never have been able to raise an army to face them. Zetsu smirked, if he was going to die he didn't really care, he had got to feast on a range of different shinobi. A blinding light made him curse under his breath, they always did this when he least expected it to maximise him being uncomfortable. His voice was croaked, raspy from lack of nutrition, "You haven't visited me in a while Kazekage-sama, has the village kept you busy?"

"Silence," a monotone rang clear, the darkness lifting enough to see the outlines of both the Kazekage and his siblings, "You know why we're here."

"You've had a sudden change of heart and you're letting me go?"

"Your last guard has been missing for nearly a week; I'm trying to convince myself that he suddenly decided to take a spontaneous vacation."

"The young one? Didn't you warn him not to get too close," Zetsu smirked and licked his lips, that indeed was a satisfying meal, "After all; you don't feed me so I must take what I can get, even if it was a brat."

The eldest sibling growled through her teeth, "We should just leave him here to rot, why do we keep sending people down to watch him?"

"Because if we don't he'll find a way out, someone has to keep an eye on him," it was the middle sibling talking now, his voice was dark and full of disgust, "He may be living under the Kazekage mansion but that doesn't mean he can't get out."

"Gaara-san, what do you suggest?"

Gaara shuffled a bit before nodding gently to himself, "We will have to check up on him ourselves, it's the best we can do for now."

"How about you leave your sister to watch me," Zetsu licked his lips as he eyed the girl through the darkness, "I promise I'll take good care of her…"

Sand flew out of nowhere and began to cut off the oxygen Zetsu needed to breathe. The Kazekage's voice was dark, "You are going to rot here scum, and you will never see daylight again."

Once the sand left, Zetsu's throat burned deeply as the oxygen came back to him. The Kazekage and his siblings left, shrouding Zetsu in darkness once more. The dark smelled damp, Zetsu wondered if it was the last thing he would ever smell, he was beginning to wonder what death would feel like…

* * *

Abi brushed back the droplets of sweat that formed on her brow as the group walked around a small unknown town, "Itachi-kun is far? Ah, is along? Grrr, May-chan anh u jioe fi?"

May smiled at her friend's frustration, "Abi-chan wants to know where we're going because it's taking too long."

"Now would be a good time of time as ever," Itachi nodded and looked around, they were about a day's trip away from their destination and the girls were exhausted, he spotted a small inn that looked cheap enough to avoid suspicion, "Let's stop for the night and I'll explain everything."

He led the girls into the inn, ignoring all the astonished or disgusted stares; he paid for one room and went upstairs. Of course it was going to look really bad, a grown man with four teenage girls going into a sleazy inn for the night with only one room, though some perverts might call that paradise. Itachi made sure that the door was locked behind him before turning to the girls, "I think it would be easiest if you translate while I explain."

May nodded and turned to the others, "I h hj duh is…"

"Konan-san has reported that Zetsu is being held in Suna, but not in the normal jails, he's been held underneath the Kazekage's mansion. If he was being held in the normal jail one of us would have already broke him out, or he would have gotten out himself, right now there are very limited options of what we can do. One option is to go full out but not only would that reveal the Akatsuki but it would also probably kill the lot of us, the other option is to send in someone, or ones, who are unknown into the village to stealthily, get him out."

Tay smirked slightly, "Jhi ijde nuja, idiot."

"She said, and you give us Akatsuki cloaks," May translated quickly back to the Uchiha, "idiot."

"I have your 'civilian' clothes in my bag," he tossed it towards them, ignoring Tay's comment, and continued, "Tomorrow, at about lunchtime, you four will go in to Suna, by horse and carriage, pretending to be upper class women from another country. May, you will be the translator, Abi and Tay will be the guards and Elle will be the one you are protecting…"

"Me? Jhud?"

"Because you are the most innocent looking out of the others. It's been arranged so the Suna council believe that your father is a rich tradesman in another continent, he heard about the Kazekage's contribution to the war and is sending his eldest daughter over to see if he is possible marriage material…"

Elle frowned deeply, "Jid hie naje."

"She said, keeps getting better."

"I figured you would be against it but this is where things start to get tricky;" Itachi turned deadly serious, "While Elle is spending her time 'getting to know' the Kazekage the rest of you are going to have to figure out a way to get to Zetsu and give him this package," he passed May a tightly bound parcel, "He will get himself out after that using what is inside, after that you must wait for a few days then leave with your decision to 'think over the proposal', you will leave Suna and meet me at the rendezvous point. Only when you return will your mission be complete."

"So then," Abi spoke slowly as she tried to remember the words she had learnt, "There will be no fighting?"

"No this is simply a recovery mission…of sorts."

"Okay."

"Now get some rest," Itachi went to the door and bowed softly, "I'll get some more supplies and we leave first thing tomorrow morning."

* * *

Tsunade pressed her hands together as Kakashi read through his team's next mission statement, he was obviously confused, "This…ah…this isn't your usual mission is it?"

"No, so glad you noticed," Sarcasm dripped from the voice of the fifth Hokage, "This is more of a bonding mission; I've had Naruto in my ear nearly every day worrying about Sasuke, Sakura is still trying to get back to what things used to be, you are just annoying and Sasuke needs to get back to his roots. Your team definitely needs this."

Kakashi nodded agreeing with every word, except the him being annoying part, "I do agree but it's at least a three day trip."

"Everything has already been paid for, you have nothing to worry about."

Kakashi quickly scanned over the paper again, "Naruto should definitely be happy."

"When will you leave?"

"Immediately."


	6. Chapter 6

Elle fidgeted nervously as Itachi collected the horses and carriage, "_I feel really out of place in this_."

"_A Kimono is necessary for this mission,_" May fixed her skirt which kept sliding upwards, "_It could always be worse._"

"_How could this possibly get worse?_"

"_You could be playing a prostitute._"

"_Touché._"

Itachi returned with the transport and nodded approval, "You all look the part, good. May you take the leads, you're driving."

"I can't even ride a horse and now you expect me to control two?"

"Your acting starts now," Itachi helped her to the driving seat on the carriage, he quickly sat beside her and put his hands over hers, "To go you flick them like this, it also makes the horses move faster when you're actually moving. This is how you turn left, right, and to make them stop you pull the reins like this. You'll be fine."

He looked over at Abi and Tay, their uniforms matched completely; short ninja boots, ¾ black pants, white short sleeved tops and matching dark blue vests as well as basic short swords for the extra guard feel. They really looked the part of professional guards. May was wearing her school uniform but she had a pair of glasses to make her look more professional. Elle had on a red and black kimono; her hair tied up in a loose bun and held with chopsticks. Each of the girls looked scared yet excited, they were going to complete the mission, and Itachi believed that they could do it.

He walked to Elle and handed her a fan, he calmly helped her into the carriage, "Breathe and you'll be fine. It will only take you a couple of hours to get there, so you don't have to rush."

He stood back and looked over the girls one final time. Abi adjusted her sword to a more comfortable position, "Do we…come here Itachi-kun?"

"Yes, once you've finished the mission return to me here," Itachi gave them a final nod before waving them off, "I'll take you back after that…"

.

..

…

"Stay safe…"

* * *

Baki fidgeted nervously as he stood outside the door to the Kazekage's office, he didn't know yet and Baki hated to be the one who had to tell him. Finally he took a deep breath and knocked…

"Come in."

Baki pushed the door back; Gaara raised his head in question, "Baki? What can I do for you?"

"There is a matter I need to discuss with you," Baki cleared his throat and mustered up all the courage he could, "I should've probably told you earlier…"

Gaara did not like the way his former Sensei was avoiding, or at least trying to avoid, whatever conversation he was bringing up, "Baki, what is it? If it's not important then would you please leave? I'm very busy…"

"You have a possible bride coming to Suna today and she will be staying for the next week…or…more…"

"WHAT!"

Baki would have laughed at Gaara's expression had it not been the awkward hole he had dug himself into, "I apologize for the late news…"

"Late news? Baki I not only have no idea what is going on but apparently my bride is coming?"

"Possible bride, she is coming to see if you are worth marrying."

Gaara went back to his emotionless expression but his eyes were wide with shock and confusion. Baki sighed, "That was probably not the best way to put it."

"You think?"

"Her father is a very wealthy man, and he heard about your contribution to the war and sees you as a worthy man for his eldest daughter. They're from a different continent so she doesn't speak Japanese, that's why she has a translator with her as well as two guards. The marriage is only a possibility but it would dramatically increase the village's wealth but this opens up possibilities for the whole continent to expand to others."

"So marrying this girl would be a good thing?"

"Yes," Baki was very relieved that Gaara wasn't trying to destroy him and was seeing this possible marriage as a good thing, "But it all depends on how well you two get along. Her father said in his letter to the council that his daughter will decide if she wishes to marry you or not, she will return home and tell him after she is satisfied with her answer."

"I see," Gaara calmed slightly and put his head in his hands, "When are these guests supposed to be arriving?"

"Right now."

"Baki…"

"I apologize again for the late news."

There was another tap on the door and a very confused Kankuro stood in the doorway, "Hey Otouto, there is this carriage at the gates. The lady driving the horses says they're here to see you?"

Gaara rose from his seat, "That was faster than I expected," he glared quickly at Baki before pushing his brother out the door, "Come on, we have guests to greet."

Kankuro ran after his brother who had begun a full out run to the gates, "Hey, what's going on?"

"I might be getting married."

"What?"

He quickly recalled the short conversation he had with Baki as they ran to the gates, Kankuro just started laughing, "You better hope she's not ugly."

"That is the last thing on my mind Kankuro," Gaara slowed his pace dramatically as the two reached their destination; "Right now I need to focus on impressing her."

"Wait, you want to get married?"

"It's not only for the village but for the entire continent. It would help everyone."

"I don't like it," Kankuro stopped walking and spotted the carriage, "There they are."

What surprised him the most was the fact that the translator and the guards were all girls, attractive girls at that. He walked forwards and bowed to the three girls before him, "Welcome to my village, I am Sabaku no Gaara, I am the Godaime Kazekage of Suna."

The tall girl with ebony hair and almond eyes bowed softly to him in respect, "My name is May, I am the translator," she spoke with authority and Gaara knew she meant business, "Please keep in mind that the other three with me know little to no Japanese, so any questions you have for them must go through me."

"Of course."

She turned her attention to the other two, "This is Abi and Tay, they are the guards and they will also be assessing how you treat Elle." The blonde guard, Abi, opened the carriage door and helped the girl inside out; she seemed to have to convince the girl to step outside the carriage. Elle finally came out and Gaara was very surprised at her, besides looking terrified, she was smaller than he expected. She looked like an expensive doll; the moment she saw him standing there, her fan went up and covered all of her face but her eyes. May put a hand on the girl's shoulder, "This is Elle. Elle nji u eh sd Sabaku no Gaara."

Elle bowed and squeaked, "H-hello, Sabaku no Gaara."

"Hello," he couldn't help but be reminded of Naruto's shy friend…Hinata that was her name; she seemed scared out of her wit just standing in front of him. He motioned with his hand towards the village, "Shall I show you around?"

* * *

They had finally arrived at the mansion and the girls couldn't be happier. Tay sighed and rubbed the back of her neck, "_I am so fucking tired, can we just find our bedrooms and go to sleep_."

"_Yes please_," Abi groaned in agreement as Gaara led the four to the dining hall, "_Elle, you're so lucky you got to ride in that carriage, walking is such a pain._"

Elle swallowed the lump in her throat, "_You don't have to pretend to be interested in this guy in front of me_," she pulled the fan higher to hide her blush, "_This is the most embarrassing moment of my life_."

"_And it's not over yet_," May started laughing as the rest of her friends complained, "_Come on guys, you have to make the most of a bad situation_."

"_I hate you_."

"_Go away May_."

"_If you start that again I will hurt you_."

May sighed, "_So dramatic_."

Gaara opened the door to the dining hall, inside his other two siblings were already eating. He motioned for the girls to go through; however they weren't liking the glares they were getting from the siblings, May instinctively stood in front of Elle, "You must be Gaara-sama's older siblings, my name is May."

"Hey," Kankuro waved a hand absently then turned to Gaara, "You've been out all day, if you keep doing this you're going to fall behind in your paperwork."

"Not now Kankuro, we have guests."

"They can leave."

"I do speak Japanese you know," May rolled her eyes and turned to Gaara, "We are all very tired from our journey, would you please show us to out rooms."

"Of course," he led the girls out again after glaring quickly at his brother. It was a short walk so there wasn't enough time to share the same awkward conversation they had that day. Gaara bowed quickly and left the girls alone for the first time since they arrived, a sigh in unison echoed through the empty room.

Tay fell on the bed happily, "_Best moment of the day_."

"_Not yet you don't_," May sat on the bed opposite her and made sure she had everyone's eye contact before she continued, "_We need to discuss what the plan of action is now that we're actually in the village_."

Abi nodded quickly and sat on another bed, "_Well we know what Elle is going to do right?_"

"_I know,_" Elle finally put her fan down and sat on the last bed, "_I'm going to be distracting Gaara until you guys have finished getting the package to you-know-who_."

"_We will have to call him that just in case someone hears, good thinking Elle_."

"_And the moment the package is delivered, we wait three days and then go back to….the other guy,_" Elle sighed and picked up her bag of clothing, "_I am so glad this room has a bathroom_."

"_Don't be too long_," May called then looked seriously at the others, "_So who is doing what and when is this all happening?_"

Tay looked serious and started to draw a plan with her fingers on the pillow, "_You-know-who is probably being held underneath this building, which would be the most logical place to hold a very dangerous criminal especially when they can keep him close but far away enough to stay safe. If May makes a clone and uses the transformation Jutsu to make the clone something like a mouse, she can locate where ever you-know-who is. After that we'll set up some sort of date between Elle and Gaara to keep everyone occupied and get the package down there as fast as we can_."

Abi stared at her in shock, "_That was actually a really good plan_."

"_Thank you_."

"_Just one extra factor, it should be another clone that goes down so we can make sure that the rest of us have an alibi if anyone asks._"

May nodded as the final dictator, "_That's the plan then, let's do this._"

* * *

"Kankuro I could really hurt you right now."

"Come one Gaara-san, you can't seriously be thinking about marrying that girl."

"It would help a lot of people."

"But you won't be happy," Temari stood out of her seat, her face full of concern, "You don't even know the girl."

Gaara sighed and sat in one of the empty seats, "That is the whole point of this trip is so we get to know each other and see if the marriage would work. If you guys keep up this attitude around those girls then nothing will ever work."

"You should marry for love."

"Really?" Gaara gave up on it and turned to leave, "I'm not going to argue. Now if you don't mind I have some paper work to catch up on."

* * *

"THIS IS SO EXCITING," Naruto screamed happily and started running through the trees like someone was dying, "WE ARE GETTING A PAID VACTION, ISN'T THIS GREAT SAKURA-CHAN?"

Sakura smiled at him, she hasn't seen him this happy in a while, "It is Naruto-kun, now can you stop yelling please?"

"Sorry," he smiled cheekily, "But this means we're finally a team again, and now it's almost like it used to be."

Sasuke kept up his stoic expression, "Dobe, it's not like it used to be."

Kakashi frowned beneath his mask, was Sasuke ever going to change back? Would he ever forget his past and look towards the future? What more could they do to help him? Naruto was thinking the same things, only difference was he had to look back at Sasuke. He never saw the tree coming.

The moment Naruto hit the tree Sasuke smirked; "Now things are back like they used to be."


	7. Chapter 7

Silence hummed over the giant dining table, for two days the girls had been there, and for two days there had been an uncomfortable tension where ever the girls went. It was obvious they were not welcome. Elle was still struggling to use her chopsticks; eventually she gave up and held her fan over her face again, "_May, when are you going to send that clone out?"_

"_I've got one out now, don't worry we'll be out of here soon,_" May nodded to no one and slowly wiped her face clean, "_Sorry about this._ Kazekage-sama, may I suggest you spend the day alone with Elle today. She is still quite nervous about this whole ordeal and to be frank I don't believe the cold greetings we are receiving from your siblings are helping."

Gaara nodded understandingly; no matter how many times he asked them to stop they just couldn't help themselves, "How is she with young children?"

"She is quite good, you're not thinking about children already are you?"

It took all of Gaara's strength not to roll his eyes, "I could show her the academy we have, I thought she might enjoy the walk."

"I'll check," May looked softly at Elle, "_He's going to take you to the academy and spend the day with you alone, is that okay?_"

"_Hell no, I don't want to be left alone with him ever._"

"She loves the idea," May smiled; mainly out of the fact she knew Elle was thinking about all the different ways she could kill her, "She knows very basic Japanese, but is also a fast learner. Please be patient with her."

Nodding once more Gaara rose from his seat and held a hand out towards Elle, "Shall we?"

She nodded and ran up to him quickly. The two went out to the streets together, looking awkward and shy, neither knew what to do. Neither spoke all the way to the academy, only when they entered and began to look some of the classes training did one finally speak, "Cute."

"Cute?" Gaara smirked, the first time they have properly spoke together and that is the first word she speaks, "I do hope you are talking about the children."

Elle smiled too beneath her fan, "Children? Yes the children cute," she gave him a small sideways look, "You think you cute?"

It took a while to fully understand what she meant but he did get her in the end, "I am not vain if that is what you are trying to say." There was another moment of unspoken silence before Gaara chose to speak, "Is it nice?"

"N-nice?" Elle thought hard for a moment before figuring out the words, "What is it nice?"

"Your home, is it nice?"

"Home? Home…"

He saw it, sadness it her eyes. Why would she be sad? Did she have bad memories of it? Or was she saddened by the thought that she would have to give it up if she agreed to marry him? Was she under the same pressure he felt?

"Home, is cute. Home is love."

"What do you mean?"

Elle smiled but the sadness remained in her eyes, "Hard without May."

* * *

May's clone scuttled along the lowest floor of the mansion, so far no one noticed her as this mouse but that could all change it an instant. She checked every door on this floor and there was no sign of Zetsu anywhere.

"Can you believe Gaara is willing to marry that girl without a second thought?"

"Kankuro, he wants our support. I'm not happy with it either."

The siblings were right in front of her, why were they all the way down here? She followed them along the east wall; they were continually complaining about Elle, it made the clone smile since she knew that it was all a lie. They stopped on a blank wall; the only mark on it was a small dot. She watched carefully as Kankuro ran his hand about a metre from the dot and pressing against the flat surface, a hidden door way opened and the two walked in. She found it, the doorway to Zetsu's hidden prison. The siblings weren't in there for long, and she managed to scuttle her way in, under their feet, when the door was starting to close. He was still wearing his Akatsuki cloak, she couldn't see any more than that. She quickly changed into a person and spoke in hushed tones, "Hello Zetsu-san."

"Who are you?" Zetsu's voice sounded drained of life, his eyes dug into her as if he had been starved, "What do you want? Or have they finally decided to feed me?"

She shivered uncontrollably, he had been starved, she had to get this over with fast, "Pein-sama sent me to help get you out, and we have a package back in the room that will help get you out."

"You expect me to believe a complete stranger is here to get me out with her only proof being words from a dead man."

"He is very much alive. They all are, Itachi-kun, Sasori-san, Deidara-kun, everyone is alive. We even managed to dig up Hidan and put him back together."

"This is still very unbelievable."

She didn't have the time to play backwards and forwards with this man, she could hear someone walking this way and they may interrupt and spot her here, "Believe me or not, the choice is up to you. I will return here as soon as I can with the package, it is your choice if you want to get out."

She quickly transformed into the mouse and waited for the door to open once more. Zetsu spoke softly, he too could tell that someone was about to come in, "The way you speak, you won't take no for an answer. I believe you child and I will wait for your return."

She waited just beside the doorway, waiting patiently for it to be opened. It did open, and she scuttled, but a foot closed down on her before she could get away. The clone vanished in a small puff. Sasuke snorted, "Looks like someone was paying Zetsu a visit…"

Upstairs, in the girls' bedroom, May's body fell weak. Her energy was wiped, her mind went blank, she left her clone out for too long and it used up too much of her chakra. She collapsed to the floor, her breathing was becoming weak, and no one heard a sound.

* * *

"Enjoy your meal," the young waitress bowed quickly and smirked. Everyone in the two metre radius all looked at the strange sight, the Kazekage appeared to be on a date with a young girl and the two looked very uncomfortable.

Elle slowly put down her fan and picked up her steaming cup of tea, "Thank you Kazekage-sama."

"Please, Gaara is just fine," he felt like he had made some sort of progress with Elle, at least she was talking to him now without scared squeaks, "Would you like anything else?"

"Tea is…fine."

Elle tried to avoid eye contact with everyone, she couldn't understand most of the mumbling but she knew that the others around were talking about Gaara and herself. And to make matters worse it was because they were 'together'. She sighed to herself, "_I am so embarrassed_."

She said something; Gaara wanted to ask but didn't want to pry. She was a complete mystery to him, it was like she was trying to hide who she truly was, was she scared he wouldn't like the real her? He had no idea what to do in a situation like this. He needed someone to help him, someone like…Uzumaki?

The blonde head popped up beside Elle, happy eyed and wide smile, "Hey Gaara-kun."

Elle gasped out of shock and dropped her tea everywhere, she gasped again quickly after realising what she had done, "So-sorry, _why am I such an idiot?_"

"Hey, who's this?" Naruto just watched the strange girl try to mop up her tea with a small napkin, mumbling something in a language he had never heard before, "Are you dating her?"

Gaara sighed but smiled, maybe Uzumaki could help after all, "This is Elle, and she is visiting Suna so we can get to know each other. She doesn't know much Japanese but she can pick up on what you're trying to say."

"Cool, hey I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

Elle put down her soaked napkin and let the waitress clean up the mess, "Hello Naruto-kun."

Gaara put some money down on the table, leaving behind his meal untouched, and started out the door, "We should head back so you can get changed."

"Ah," Elle looked down to where he was pointing and noticed her kimono covered in tea, "Yes, thank you."

Naruto followed along behind the silent duo, Elle had her fan back over her face, and Gaara quickly looked to Naruto, "What brings you to Suna?"

"Grandma Tsunade sent all of Team Kakashi on a 'bonding' mission and we're staying here," Naruto quickly brushed that off and pointed at Elle, "She's really cute Gaara."

"Yes, I see that."

"So you like her?"

"I am not sure. I do believe that she is attractive but I hardly believe that should be the basis for a marriage."

Naruto's eyes nearly popped out of his skull, "You two are getting married?"

"If all goes well then that is the most possible outcome."

"And you…want…to get married?"

"It would be a good thing."

"Then let me help you out," Naruto stood on the other side of Elle and 'accidently' hit her as he got to her side, "Sssooorrryyy…"

She fell sideways into Gaara's arms, he could see Uzumaki's plan now and it wasn't a very subtle one, "Are you alright."

"Yes," Elle stood upright and continued walking, she was so happy to have the fan because it hid her blush so well, "Thank you."

Gaara looked over at Naruto, "What was that for?"

"I'm going to help you two get together," Naruto suddenly decided and pointed quietly at Elle, "From now on, you've got to be closer to her. I want you to take her to the roof tonight and just talk softly to her; she doesn't know what you're saying so it's okay."

"That doesn't seem like a very thought out plan."

"Just do it and you'll be married in no time."

Elle sighed, she knew they were talking about her and she was scared that things were about to get very difficult.

* * *

"Kakashi-san, what brings you to our village?"

"A humble visit amongst ninja, how have you been Baki-san?"

"I have been well thank you. Do you wish to come visit Zetsu?"

"Not really, I trust your abilities. However," the great copy ninja of Konoha looked over at the two girls who were calmly chatting in a different language, "Do you think it is a good idea to discuss this matter in front of your visitors?"

Baki laughed lightly, "Don't worry they don't understand Japanese, their translator has gone out I believe."

"Oh, that's convenient."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that Sasuke found a clone running out of Zetsu's cell," Kakashi looked carefully at the girls, they didn't seem the bit fazed, maybe they really didn't understand Japanese, "It would be a pain for it to have been one of your guests."

"I highly doubt that, these girls have kept to themselves ever since they got here. I don't even think those guards are ninja."

"I wouldn't be so sure Baki-san…"

* * *

"_They're on to us,_" Abi kept a straight face as she discussed the parts she could understand from Kakashi and Baki's conversation with Tay, "_They're really on to us, we could be in trouble Tay_."

Tay nodded softly, "_Keep calm Abi, they only have suspicions at the moment, they can't link us to anything._"

"_Okay, look over there_," Abi pointed with her eyes at the duo that walked in the door, "_No Elle, where do you think she is?_"

"_Hiding away, trying to avoid being seen in those Kimonos._"

"_She looks like a doll in those_."

"_Probably why she's hiding_."

The two began to giggle quietly at their friend's embarrassment when a high pitched scream interrupted them. They quickly looked at each other and uttered a single word, "Elle." They ran faster than the others in the room. Elle's scream came from their room, they barged in without a moment's hesitation, and the only thing that mattered was making sure she was okay.

"_MAY WAKE UP!_"

Inside Elle was shaking a very pale May in the middle of the floor, tears were slowly streaming down her panic struck face, "_Please wake up, what's wrong?_"

"_Elle, Tay grab her_," Abi ran forwards and began to check for vital signs on the pale girl, she found a light pulse and shortness of breath, "_She's alive but we should get her to a hospital._"

"What's going on?" Gaara was the first to get to the door, he immediately began the orders, "Kankuro, take May to the hospital immediately. Temari, I want you to look around and see if you find any clues as to what happened. Baki, do we have any surveillance on this wing?"

Everyone began to move as ordered, the girls watched helplessly as May was taken away. Baki shook his head, "Not on this wing no."

"Damn, see if you can find anyone that may have seen what happened."

"Yes Kazekage-sama."

Naruto went quietly over to Gaara and spoke in a hushed whisper, "Now would be the best time to talk to Elle-chan, comfort her and such."

"Of all times?"

"Yes."

Gaara sighed defeat and took his friends advice. He placed an arm around Elle's shoulder and began to direct her out of the room, "I'll take you to the hospital to see May."

Tay and Abi followed the two, this wasn't part of the plan, what were they going to do?

* * *

Itachi looked out the window of his room in the inn, something was wrong, he could feel it in the wind. He was about to go to Suna to check on the girls before his senses came back to him. He had to trust them to do it on their own. Tobi would get rid of them otherwise, he said so himself.

He took a deep breath and spoke to no one, "It's just like otouto all over again, I worry and can do nothing about it. Please stay safe girls."


	8. Chapter 8

**A.N. Hey guys, big thumbs ups to Shadow The Ranger for always reviewing and lulalunalalu (I know it's not an actual account but who cares) for the suggestion. Keep shooting ideas my way for when I get writers block, if I like it I'll use it. And for Fuyu no Buki hurry up and finish editing...**

**KEEP REVIEW AND SENDING IDEAS FOR PAIRINGS/SITUATIONS/BIRTHDAY PARTIES ETC...^_^ **

* * *

Elle sat beside the hospital bed, pale and tired, the medics said May would be fine and wake up soon but that didn't make it her feel any better. She brushed some hair of May's face and sighed, "_Please tell me you didn't get caught_…" Tay and Abi were still playing the guards and stood outside the door, waiting for Elle to finish her visit. She wished they didn't have to so she could get the hug she desperately needed.

She was about to get up when there was a small tap on the door, Naruto quickly snuck in and shut it behind him. Elle tilted her head in confusion, "Naruto-kun?"

"Elle-chan," he ran over a grabbed her hand, "Watashiha anata wo kariru hitsuyouga ari masu."

"Too fast," she caught nothing he said, "Slow."

He looked carefully at her for a moment, obviously confused about what she was trying to say, "Watashiha anata wo kariru hitsuyouga ari masu."

He started pulling her towards the window. The open window. WHAT THE HELL WAS THIS GUY THINKING!

"ABI, TAY!"

The two 'guards' ran in without hesitation, the chased the duo that was heading towards the window and grabbed the sleeve of Elle's kimono before Naruto could get her out of the window. A tug-of-war over the girl began, Naruto seemed determined to get her out while the other two girls were trying to keep her in. Elle looked along the stitching in her kimono, "_The sleeve is going to rip._"

Tay grunted and pulled harder, "_What?_"

The ripping sound answered her question, each sleeve broke off, and Elle fell to the floor with a bang. She looked from Naruto, back to her friends, and then ran back to May's bedside. Abi and Tay ran after her and formed a small wall separating her from Naruto. He stood looking confused at them before he started yelling, "Watashi ha kanojo wo eru kotogadekiruto ware ai ra ga kekkon shitanode , watashi ha kanojo wo kari ru hitsuyou Gaara..."

Tay looked at Abi, "_Did you catch any of that?_"

"_This guy speaks too fast, is he like on meth or something?_"

"_Jeez, May wake up._"

The door opened once more, the pink haired girl from Naruto's team walked in and sighed. She hit him and turned to the others, "Kare nitsuite moushiwake arimasen."

"_Hold on I might be able to talk to her_," Abi looked closely at her and spoke slowly, "Can't talk well, speak slow."

"Ah, my name is Sakura," she bowed softly and spoke slow enough for Abi to understand her, "Sorry about Naruto-kun, he thinks he's smart."

"Why take Elle?"

"Don't worry about him," Sakura walked over to May, blue chakra emitting from her hand, and ran it along her forehead. May's eyes fluttered weakly open, "There you go, she'll be fine now."

"May," Elle cheered loudly and then hit May in the head with her fan, "_Don't' you ever scare me like that again, I will kill you and it will hurt._"

"_Ya, ya sorry,_" May laughed softly and rubbed the small lump that was made from Elle's fan, "_What did I miss?_"

* * *

Gaara frowned deeply and clasped his hands together, thinking deeply about the situation at hand, "You believe that Elle and her friends tried to see Zetsu."

"Not tried, did," Sasuke was very definite about his answer, "It is the only explanation as to who it could be. No one knows them, it was a poorly made clone showing lack of experience and they can discuss matters without anyone realising it."

"That is very logical, but still," Gaara closed his eyes and shook his head, "The thought of having someone connected to the Akatsuki so close is…unsettling."

Kakashi moved across the room, looking absently at whatever was lying around, "What I am wondering is why girls so young would be connected to a group like that. I don't know them personally but I think, if anything, they would be being forced to do whatever the intention is."

"Before we make any assumptions I think we should get May's statement first. If it doesn't add up, suspicion will increase and we will increase surveillance on every one of the girls," Gaara rose from his seat and began towards the door, "I really don't want to have to do that. It means that this whole thing was a sham and everyone in my council has been played for a fool."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to it then."

"Agreed."

* * *

"_Did someone catch you? Who was it?_"

"_Are you hurt? Where's the pain?_"

"_You're a dead woman if that ever happens again, you hear me?_"

May sighed as her friends took turns growling at her, "_Duck butt caught my clone, I just passed out thanks to it being out so long and all the transformations it did, and yes Elle I heard you the first six times_."

"_Good, I just wanted to make sure_."

"_We may have a problem if they start suspecting_," May carefully looked at Sakura and Naruto, making sure they weren't paying attention to what the girls were doing. She dropped her voice when saying names enough to avoid suspicion but so the other could still here who they were, "_We may have to get this mission over sooner than anticipated. Elle, you need to start getting Gaara to trust in you more so it fades from his mind. Tay, I want you to keep the siblings sorted, maybe flirt with Kankuro a bit. Abi, you keep an eye on Team Kakashi's actions, make sure they're kept well out of this_."

"_Yes May_," the three chorused quietly before falling back into character. Elle looked at her kimono, "_It's all ruined now, luckily I have spares_."

May looked over at the other two in the room, "Naruto-kun, I hope you realised that you have practically destroyed Elle's kimono and it was very expensive. A gift from her mother actually. It would be nice for you to apologize."

"I was just trying to help."

"Help do what exactly?"

"Get her and Gaara-san married."

"That's a bit extreme," May had to bite her inner check to stop herself from laughing, "Just an apology will do for now."

He grumbled, Sakura hit him, and he bowed, "Okay, I'm sorry."

Elle smiled at him, "Thank you Naruto-kun."

A knock on the door interrupted any further conversations. Sasuke, Kakashi and Gaara walked in, all looking sombre, and all eyes on May. Gaara calmly walked closer to her, stopping only when Tay and Abi stopped him, "It is good to see you awake."

"Thank you Kazekage-sama."

"I just have few questions for you," Gaara tried to get closer but the 'guards' wouldn't let him, "Can you get them to stand down."

"Only on Elle's order."

"Elle-chan?"

Elle looked between the two, she needed to get Gaara to trust her more, she nodded and the guards stood aside. Gaara bowed to her quickly, "Thank you," he then turned his attention back to May, "Would you care to explain what happened, how did you pass out?"

"Well, I was going back to the bedroom to take a shower," May picked up her glasses form the small medical desk beside her, only just remembering she had them, and pretended to be thinking, "And then I saw this man, he looked panicked and drained. It was like he got caught doing something he wasn't supposed to."

Sasuke smirked to himself, he kept his voice low so only Kakashi could hear him, "Either this really happened or she is very good at lying."

"You're sharp Sasuke."

"Thank you Sensei."

Gaara nodded thoughtfully, his conscious believing the girl, "Do you remember what this man looked like?"

"Well," May took a deep breath, Sasuke was almost right but he missed one thing, she was a very, very good liar, "I can't remember his face too well, I think he had a scar on one of his cheeks. He had dark brown hair and he was wearing the strangest cloak."

"Cloak?" Gaara pressed forward, this is what he was after, "What did it look like?"

"It was plainly black, except the red clouds? Yes, there were red clouds all over it."

"What happened after you saw him?"

"I went up and asked him what he was doing, he was heading towards our room after all, and he asked who I was. I knew he was not one of your ninja after that so I told him that he should leave right now or I'll start yelling. He vanished and then I must've blacked out because I just remember waking up here and Elle hitting me with her fan."

"Is that everything?"

"Yes, did something happen? Everyone looks so serious."

Gaara shook his head, "Nothing for you to worry about. Please rest up, your friends looked terribly worried."

"Yes, Kazekage-sama."

He calmly turned to leave, stopping only to talk quietly with the two Sharingan users, "Are you satisfied with their innocence?"

"Not quite yet."

"I agree with Sasuke, I get the feeling they're still hiding something."


	9. Chapter 9

Kankuro was eyeing up the guard girl who was walking beside him. Elle and Gaara were going for a walk around the village but Kankuro didn't want to leave his brother alone with the siren, and now Tay didn't want to leave Elle alone with two strange boys. And so the four of them were walking around the village together. Kankuro didn't trust any of these girls, he was believing that same thing as Kakashi and Sasuke and that the girls were somehow connected to the Akatsuki, he lost his brother to that group once and he was going to be damned if he was going to let it happen again. He stopped watching the guard and turned his attention to Gaara, "Where are we going now?"

"You aren't supposed to even be here," Gaara disliked the fact his brother had decided to chaperon him everywhere he went, "But I'm taking Elle to a movie, May said she enjoys music so I think she might appreciate the newest one out."

"The chick flick? Gaara…"

"Not that one, it's the one with Fujikaze Yukie; Naruto said that it had a good soundtrack alongside an actual story line."

"I actually wanted to see that one."

"Kankuro…"

"I'm not leaving you alone with her," Kankuro glared at the girl hiding behind her fan, she was looking questioningly at him but he knew it was an act, "She's hiding something, I just know it."

Elle tugged softly on Gaara's sleeve, "Kankuro-kun okay? Looks…looks…" she quickly called over to Tay, "HIu njs ide?"

Tay shrugged, "Hui di je, mad?"

"Ah," she turned back to Gaara and smiled, "Looks mad."

Gaara smiled softly, it was slightly forced but still soft, "Don't mind him, he has issues."

"Hey…"

"Here we are," Gaara began to lead Elle into the movie theatre, and she didn't seem to mind being pushed around but Gaara got the feeling if he pressed harder she would hit him, "Kankuro, if you follow us in I will hurt you."

"But otouto…"

"Nothing," Gaara lead Elle away to get tickets for their movie, "You follow, I hurt."

Kankuro groaned and glared at Tay, "This is your entire fault."

Tay didn't understand Japanese but she knew when she was getting blamed for something, "Me? What?"

"My little brother hates me now and it's your entire fault."

"What?"

"Grrrr," Kankuro stormed out alongside the girl, his anger a cross between Gaara's distrust and her repetitive 'what's, "I know you and your friends are hiding something, it's something to do with the Akatsuki, and I won't let you hurt my brother." He waited until they were around a deserted street before pressing the girl hard against the wall, "If you even think of hurting my family I will destroy you."

* * *

May sat opposite Kakashi; the hospital warned her not to go far so she couldn't go out with Elle, the copy seemed to take this as a chance to talk with the translator, "So where are you four from exactly?"

"Narnia," May said the first name that came to mind.

"Narnia? Can't say I've heard of it."

"It's about a month's trip by boat, it was very boring."

"Funny, the letter arrived here just a few weeks ago."

"I cannot control animals, the bird flew on its own accord," May glared at him, she had to watch what she said or he'll catch her out, "Care to tell me why I am being interrogated? Has this got something to do with the man in the cloak?"

"Have you ever heard of the Akatsuki?"

"The group who started your war?"

"The very same," he leaned forwards on one hand, his visible eye watching for any slight hesitation, "That was their uniform, of sorts, that black cloak. We thought that we got rid of the last of them but apparently not…"

"And you blame me and my friends for this?"

"Not at all May-san, merely making observations and linking them to possible conclusions."

May pulled out a scroll, nodding and obviously making notes about the conversation, "Tell me, Kakashi-san, how close are you to the Kazekage?"

"Gaara-sama? He is close to one of my students, Naruto. May I ask about how it relates to our current conversation?"

"You will see you due time Kakashi-san," May put away her scroll and smirked at the Konoha native, "All in due time."

* * *

Elle was watching the movies intently, she picked up on the rough storyline, but she was mainly focusing on the music they used. It sounded so unique to the culture, nothing like what she had back home. She sighed to herself; whenever she was reminded of home she always felt a pang of loneliness. She wanted to go back so badly, she just didn't know how…

Gaara noticed the girl's distress; she was happy just a minute ago, "Elle-chan is everything okay?"

"Hm? Oh," Elle remembered him, he did look concerned but she couldn't shake the feeling that it was just an act, "Just…nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Thank you."

She was hiding something; he wanted to know what was upsetting her, "You are upset."

"_No shit,_" Elle held the fan over her face; she found it was an easy escape from most conversations, "Fine Gaara-sama. Please no worry."

"Something is worrying you; we can find May so she can…"

"NO," Elle was hushed for suddenly speaking so loud, if he goes to May then things might get difficult, she had to think fast, "May…can't know."

This peaked Gaara's interests, she was hiding something but it wasn't what everyone thought, she was hiding something from everyone she trusted. He pulled her out of her chair and out of the theatre, this was the situation Naruto told him about, 'comfort the girl and win her heart.' He took her to a nearby tea house so they could talk, he waited until the waitress left with their orders to press the issue, "May can't know about what?"

"May can't," Elle scanned her thoughts, she needed something dramatic but not over board so he believed her, "No one can."

"Why not?" he took the tea and looked carefully into her eyes, "Is it bad?"

Elle looked at the table, she was certain that he was onto her; she needed to think faster, "Please, I can't…"

"Elle-chan, I won't tell anyone I swear," he reached out and grabbed onto her hand, Naruto said this was a sign of affection and understanding, "Tell me what is upsetting you."

One of the waitresses serving the tea noticed this sign, she felt betrayed. Some strange woman was tricking her Kazekage into falling for her, it was unacceptable, it was unthinkable, and it needed to be stopped. She crossed the room quickly had made sure to 'accidentally' drop the full teapot onto the vixen's legs, "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry."

Elle could have kissed the girl if her lower legs were not screaming in pain. She quickly dived out the and ran like her life depended on it. How did it come to this? She was running to avoid answering a simple question; she was lying to everyone in front of her, she wanted to tell them about the Akatsuki and have this whole mess finished so she could go home. Tears began to stream down her face as she ran, what was her family going to say? Would she ever see them again?

* * *

Tay stormed into the dining room of the mansion, if that was how Suna ninja treated their guests it was no wonder no one stayed long. She stormed over and sat by May, "_Unbelievable._"

"_What happened now?_"

"_The Kazekage's older brother just threatened me; I'm not sure what he said exactly but I know he was threatening to do physical damage_."

May pulled out her scroll and wrote down some more, "_Shall we say his eyes were burning hatred into you?_"

"_What?_" Tay didn't understand what her friend was doing, "_What's with the scroll?_"

Abi came into the room carrying three bowls of rice and an assortment of meats to eat it with, "_She's writing down all the bad things that happens to us while we're here. She's going to 'present' the scroll to Elle a few days after you-know-who escapes and then Elle will blow off her top. We will use that as an excuse to leave hastily and never have to speak with them ever again_."

Tay stared wide eyed then clapped May on the back, "_Great plan_."

"_I think so too, thanks Abi_."

"_Abi came up with it?_"

May nodded and smiled, "_Yeah, she told me about it last night and I started writing it this morning_."

Abi smiled to herself, she was already scheming away in her head, and there were so many possibilities but not enough time to try them all.

* * *

Elle slowed her pace as she reached the top of the stairs, she often came onto the roof when she was trying to hide from the others, and she loved the view from up here. She tried to stop her tears but they just refused to. She need to stop them and think of something to tell Gaara, he wouldn't leave her alone until she did. Unfortunately her time was cut insanely short, "You run fast Elle-chan."

"Ga-Gaara-sama," she spun around quickly and backed up slightly, did he figure her out? "I…ah…I can't…"

He walked forwards and grabbed her arm, "You're a fool."

"I…I…"

"Be quiet," he pushed up her so she sat on the railing, he pulled up the bottom of her kimono and began to rub some ointment on her still red legs, "When you're hurt you shouldn't run, it won't make the pain go away."

He was trying to help her? Elle could feel the tears coming back, now he was just making her feel really guilty about what she was doing, "I'm sorry Gaara-sama."

"Don't apologize; it's not your fault. How are your legs?"

Elle felt slightly awkward as he rubbed her shins with his ointment; however she was happy they weren't her thighs. She took a deep breath in but just couldn't bring herself to lie to him, "Sorry."

He stood up to look her in the eyes, "Why do you keep apologizing?" She tilted her head in confusion; he spoke slower, "No more sorry."

"Sor…" Elle stopped herself from finishing the word and nodded, "Yes Gaara-sama."

"Now this matter you can't discuss with May, does it have to do with your home?"

Home. That word again. That word always brought tears to Elle, and thanks to the pain in her legs, she couldn't stop them from falling down her cheeks this time. She wanted it so bad, "H-home? Want home." Elle couldn't believe she just told him that. She began to hope like hell that he didn't understand what she said…

"You want to go home?" That's why she couldn't tell her friends, she was here because she had to be. That's what she was hiding from everyone. He placed a hand on her shoulder as she wept gently for her home, it all made sense to him now.

* * *

Temari sighed deeply as one of her younger brothers ran into her room, "What did you do Kankuro?"

"What do you mean?" he tried to act cool but he was dripping with Gaara's-gonna-kill-me sweat, "Why would anything be wrong?"

"Kankuro, I'm not stupid."

"I know, just fat."

The puppet master was beaten heavily, then after Temari was satisfied he was enough pain she sat back on her bed and glared at him, "Now, what did you do?"

Kankuro groaned and did his best to sit up, "I may have, on accident, threatened to destroy Tay if she and her friends were thinking about hurting Gaara."

"Moron…"

"I won't see him hurt again; you should know how I feel on…"

"Don't say it."

"Onee…"

"Kankuro, don't you dare."

"Onee-chan."

"Dammit," of course her brother went for her only weakness, the thought that her younger brothers respected her as an older sister, "Yes I understand Kankuro, but I still think it was the wrong thing to do."

"But I can't shake the feeling that it's going to bite me in the ass."

"It wouldn't be you if it didn't happen."


	10. Chapter 10

Elle giggled and tried again, "_Hello, my name is Elle_."

"_Hello, my name is…_" Gaara thought deeply about the wording, "_Gaara of the dessert_."

May cringed over Elle's laughter, "You know you said dessert right?"

"Darn, _Gaara of the desert_."

"_Yes_," Elle smiled happily, she had begun teaching Gaara English about three days ago, he in turn didn't tell anyone about what she told him, "Learn quick."

"Thank you."

"_I am a sand ninja_."

"_I am a nin sand?_"

May rolled her eyes as Elle started laughing again, she disliked the fact her friend was getting so 'chummy' with Gaara, it was going to make lying a whole lot harder. Especially now that he was learning English. She was not the only one upset, Kankuro was extremely mad that his younger brother was ignoring his warnings and continued to get closer to the foreign girl. Basically neither party was happy with the fact that the two were actually getting along. This only served to make the two slightly happier, Elle smirked as May left the room in a huff, "May no like you."

"My family doesn't like you," Gaara smiled back at her, indicated to the puppeteer that was brooding in the corner, "_Kankuro really no like you_."

"_He does like glaring at me_, Temari-chan?"

"Try Temari-san, _still no like._"

"Naruto-kun seems like?"

"Yeah, Naruto-kun likes you," Gaara smiled at the energetic boy who was trying to get Kankuro to stop sulking, "He likes everyone, except Madara."

"Madara?" Elle knew that she had to play dumb, luckily she was good at it, "_Is he a bad guy?_"

"_Yes. Big bad guy_."

"Gaara," Kankuro growled from is corner, finally pushing Naruto out of his face, "You shouldn't discuss matters like that with people like her."

"What do you mean 'people like her'?"

"Possible Akatsuki members."

Gaara sighed and started to get out of his seat, "If she is one she already knows who I am talking about so there is no point in trying to hide it. Come on Elle-chan, _go eat lunch._"

"Ah, okay?" She followed along behind him quietly, she didn't like being the cause of a family feud but she couldn't help but smiled at the thought of Kankuro not getting is way, "Bye Naruto-kun, Kankuro-kun."

Abi passed her on the way out the door, "_Where are you going now?_"

"_Out for lunch with Gaara, play nice with the big boys…_"

* * *

May walked along the corridors of the east wall, a few stories above Zetsu's cell, contemplating the best way to get to Zetsu out. She had to do it tomorrow, Elle was getting too close to Gaara and her guilt might get the better of her if they wait any longer. She slid her hand slowly along the wall as she walked passing through squares of light and shadow. A silhouette dashed past. May looked out the window to see a bird fly past. That wasn't the shadow, and she knew it.

"Is someone there?" May turned around on herself, double checking that she wasn't being followed, "Hello?" She knew there was someone there, she saw them, she couldn't let them know though, "Must've just been my imagination."

What was it that Itachi told her about sensing nearby chakra. She stood leaning slightly out the window and closed her eye, breathing deeply and concentrating on sensing the chakra. She found nothing. But she was so sure she saw something there.

She'd have to tell the others to watch their backs, someone was watching them.

* * *

Abi fidgeted nervously at the table, she snuck soft glances at Naruto but making sure Kankuro saw what she was doing. Eventually he tapped Naruto's shoulder, "She keeps looking at you."

"What who?"

"The only girl in this room."

"Oh," Naruto waved happily at Abi, "Hi there."

"Hi Naruto-kun," Abi brushed back her bangs and waved back at him, "How are you?"

"I'm fine Abi-chan, I didn't know you spoke Japanese?"

"I know more than Elle and Tay," she shrugged calmly, "But only if speak slowly."

Naruto smiled and walked over to where she was sitting, "I get it, you can only understand me when I speak slowly."

"Yes Naruto-kun."

"That's awesome," he sat next to her, fascinated by the fact she was actually able to talk to him, "So why aren't you with your friends?"

"I wanted talk to you. You nice to Elle."

"Aren't the others nice to her?"

Abi shook her head sadly, "Don't…ah…trust us. Do you trust us?"

"I trust you," he seemed somewhat offended that she said it, so he gave her a thumbs up and the biggest smile he could, "What can I do to show you I trust you?"

This is what she wanted, she smiled back at him and placed her hand gently on top of his, "I believe Naruto-kun, I trust you."

Naruto blushed softly at her words, he chuckled shyly and rubbed the back of his head, "Thanks Abi-chan, you know, I like talking to you."

"I like it too Naruto-kun," she watched Kankuro watch her carefully out the corner of her eye, she knew he did not trust her at all, "Talk more later?"

"Later? Why not now? We can go out and eat with Gaara and Elle."

"Okay," Abi smiled and got up, if she got him to trust her the hopefully he can convince the rest of his friends that the girls are innocent, "Let's go."

* * *

Kakashi hummed softly to himself as he walked along the corridors of the Kazekage's mansion. He could sense the Suna Anbu following May around and she was none the wiser, if she tried anything she would get caught out. Life couldn't be sweeter. He continued to hum along the corridors and turned a corner, there he spotted his target, "May-san, my you look so pale, is something the matter?"

"Nothing Kakashi-san," he eyed him suspiciously, what did he know that she didn't, "Elle was just talking quite a bit last night, she has taken quite a sudden liking to the Kazekage."

"Ah young love, how lucky they are. And you as well, you're still very young. How old are you exactly?"

"Don't you know it is rude to ask a woman's age?"

"My apologises," he bowed and smirked up at her, "So how old?"

She sighed, he wasn't going to leave her alone until he got an answer, "Seventeen, I'm seventeen, we all are."

"Seventeen? That's so young," he sounded suddenly surprised, his eye was no longer full of mischief but concern, "And all of you? You, Elle, Abi and Tay?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"You're just roughly the same age as my students, and you're so far from home?"

She narrowed her eyes slowly, "What do mean about that?"

"You said yourself that it was a month trip by boat, that's such a long time to be away from your family," two of his students had no family, so Kakashi had picked up a habit of concerning himself in matters like this, especially if the Akatsuki may be involved, "Do you miss them?"

May was better at hiding her emotions than the others, she simply took a deep breath and lied flawlessly, "It's not like we're never going to see them again. Why are you suddenly so concerned about my friends and I? Don't tell me you still believe we're somehow connected to that Akatsuki group."

He didn't say anything, he just looked at her. May was about to walk off when Kakashi grabbed onto her arm, "Come for a walk with me…"

She sized him up slowly, "Sorry but…you're not my type Kakashi-san."

"Not your…? I just wish to speak to you privately."

"You're not going to confess your undying love for me?"

"I promise to keep that to myself until you are at least twenty."

"Well in that case…" she nodded and he led the way. They walked up onto the roof, the view of busy people, vendors, children running around playfully was such a peaceful and beautiful sight. May walked over to the railing, watching happily as two of her friends walked cheerfully back into the mansion after she assumed was lunch, "_Idiots_."

"They look very happy," Kakashi stood beside her looking out at his student and friend, "Don't you think it would be a lot better if you stopped pretending and got back to your own lives."

"Not this again."

"You're not fooling me with this innocent act May," Kakashi leaned against the railing, his voice was deadly serious, "I know that you are connected to the Akatsuki somehow, I don't know whether you are a member or what your deal is but I know that you are connected. Tell me how."

May held up her hands in surrender, "Okay you caught me Kakashi, I admit everything."

"Really?"

"Yes, I am the leader of the Akatsuki. My friends and I are here to seduce anyone in power and use them to take over the world."

"You're lying."

"Your powers if deduction are amazing, what gave me away? Was it the sarcasm?"

"This is getting us nowhere, look at them," Kakashi pointed at Elle and Abi as Gaara and Naruto caught up to them, the four began to laugh and chat happily, "What do you see? Tell me exactly what it is you see."

May saw her friends being happier than they had ever been since the moment they took a step in this world, she hated having to admit it, "I see four very happy teenagers, mind you, you can hardly tell with the Kazekage…"

"They are happy and carefree," looked back to May, just looking for any hesitation that would confirm his suspicions, "Just tell us what you know about the Akatsuki and we can help you. If they're threatening you, we'll stop it. If they're holding you against your will, we can help set you free. Don't you want to be like the group down there?"

"I didn't know ninja got involved with lives outside their own."

"We don't usually…"

"So why are you trying to get involved in ours?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"And just like that we randomly change subjects."

Kakashi chuckled lightly, "Naruto has this strange effect of people, and because of him I feel this need to help those who need it. I know it sounds strange but that's how I feel. I can see that you can't do this…"

May stared at him in shock; did he just call her weak? "Who the hell do you think you are saying that?"

"That came out worse than it was meant to be."

"What was meant to be then?"

"I'm trying to help get you away from the Akatsuki…"

"And I would accept that help but we've got nothing to do with the Akatsuki."

Kakashi sighed deeply, "How about we stop this game of cat and mouse and you can just come clean, you may have taken advantage of the trusting nature of the ninja here in Suna but that can all be forgiven if you admit everything. We can help you."

"We don't need your help," May glared at the worried man, he doesn't even know them, how dare he try to get involved? "There is nothing for you to do here Kakashi-san, good day." May left quickly after that, she was even more determined to get Zetsu out now.


	11. Chapter 11

"_Well, the scroll is full_," May flipped it in the air before putting her scroll away, "_Elle is not going to like the things on here._"

Abi laughed lightly, watching the eavesdropping Kage out of the corner of her eye, "_It's such a shame, she liked it here so much_."

"_Well maybe we could come back some day_."

"_Not with the trip costing so much, it would have to be for a pretty damn good reason for it to happen_."

"_Morning guys,_" Elle bounced in and looked over Abi's shoulder, "_What's everyone talking about?_"

May patted her head and pushed her towards the table, "_Nothing important, what do you want to do today?_"

"_I'm pretty much up for anything, do you have plans?_"

"_I was hoping we could all spend the day together, we haven't been able to much since everyone trying to pin this Akatsuki shit on us._"

"_What?_" Elle's head snapped around and looked at May, "_What do you mean_?"

"_Ah…._"

"_May?_"

Kankuro started to chuckle, "What's wrong? Trouble in paradise, Akatsuki?"

"You had better watch your mouth," May snapped at the man, they had this planned out to the last detail, they needed everyone occupied in this room, "You have caused us nothing but grief ever since the day we arrived, you stupid, loud mouthed, son of a-"

"Do not speak to my brother like that," Temari defensively walked up and poked a finger into May's face, "You ungrateful little tart."

Abi pushed the sand ninja back, "No touch May."

"Stay out of this blondey."

"Make me."

The commotion slowly got louder, insults and accusations flying free and fast. The Konoha ninja came in to find the four screaming, just about in the fight, Elle yelling at her friends to stop and Gaara just about to do the same. Sasuke looked calmly to Kakashi, "Notice how one is missing."

"Look again Sasuke," Kakashi pointed towards Elle, she was being held back by Tay who had run into the room at the same time they did, "Seems like the powder keg has finally been set alight."

"How do you suggest we do that Sensei?"

"First let's separate the two groups and then deal with the situation."

Sakura nodded and moved forwards, "Okay break time…"

* * *

May's clone watched from around the corner, it waited until the guard had left before moving forwards, she wasn't going to be caught this time. She had depicted her clone as 'the Akatsuki man who attacked her', if anyone was watching they would see him, and he was going to get Zetsu right now.

The clone slid along the shadows, they were definitely being followed to day, she had to be faster than she had ever been before. She found the dot on the wall, she slid her hand a metre along and pressed, the door swung open easily and her stalker moved quickly. She dived in and chucked Zetsu the package, "You know who I am, don't attack my friends."

Kunai flew clean through the air and into the clone, smoke evaporated and the clone vanished, he Anbu swore under his breath then moved in for the next attack, "Don't even think about it…"

Zetsu laughed, crunching back the many food pills that were packed in for him, "I'm free now, and I am rather peckish."

The Anbu dived forwards into the black room, a hand latched onto him when he didn't realise it, Zetsu began to feast on the flesh of the screaming man. He knew everyone could hear him, he didn't care, he was free. Zetsu threw a few exploding kunai at the wall, his escape was inevitable now, however he was still hungry. Zetsu began to multiply slowly, "Now, I think I owe the Kazekage and his siblings a visit. I hope they remember me."

* * *

Kakashi stood between the two sides, negotiating 'peaceful' talks between the two. It was all going well in his mind. Only problem, reality didn't reflect that…

"I will not stand idly by and have some cross dresser accuse my friends and I of pure nonsense."

"Who are you calling a cross dresser?"

"The only person in this room covered in make-up."

"Say that to my face."

"What do you think I'm doing right now?"

Kakashi put a hand out to each party and smiled softly, "Now no one actually means any of this, everyone is just on edge."

"On edge? You were accusing us of the same thing the other day," May continued to yell, since her friends couldn't really speak Japanese she had to translate for them. Tay glared at the man and May translated, "You're a paedophile who assumes the worst in everyone."

Sakura's face turned bright red in rage, "Don't you talk to Kakashi Sensei like that, he's only trying to help."

"We don't need his help."

"You need a lot of help," Kankuro started laughing but it was as cold as ice, "May I suggest you leave immediately and return to your own homes."

Abi curled up her bottom lip at the man, "Coward…"

Kankuro stormed forwards, anger blazing on his face, he had to be held back by Sasuke and Naruto so he wouldn't hit her, "You're lucky that these guys are here or I would kick your ass."

"Try it."

"I don't hit girls anyway," he spat and broke out of the vice grip holding him back. Abi growled and slapped his face before he could turn away completely. Kankuro grabbed his red check and charged forwards, "You bitch."

Naruto tried to stop Kankuro but the angry puppeteer's fury was too great, he dived at Abi and raised his fist, she kicked him hard in the chest before he could make contact with her. He quickly recovered and tried again, Tay drew out her sword and held it at him, sand flew between the fighters and an angry monotone rang clear, "Enough of this, Kankuro calm down."

"They're asking for it Gaara, I've held it back long enough."

"CALM DOWN," Gaara pushed everyone to different areas in the room with his sand, he stood in the middle glaring at anyone who dare look him in the eyes, "This mess has dragged out for too long, it's time everyone just got over it."

Elle looked over at May, "_What's he saying?_"

"_We're getting growled at,_" May spoke quietly, she was definitely not expecting a reaction like that from him, "_I don't think that it's aimed too much at you though, mainly the ones who were fighting._"

"_What about you?_"

"_I may be getting growled at as well_."

"_I didn't want this_."

"_I know Elle, I know_," May looked at Gaara but avoided directly looking into his eyes, "Can we at least take Elle out of here, she hasn't done anything."

"She's the one who started this whole mess," Temari pointed accusingly at her, her voice slightly rising, "If she never came here then none of this would have happened."

"It's not like had choice in coming," Abi's anger was becoming so much she was blurting out things she shouldn't have, "Never want to."

May took a quick breath in and glared at her friend, "Abi, _shut your mouth right now._"

"_Why? Oh, sorry._"

"_Shit girl_," May turned back to the glaring sister and was about to speak when she noticed something, the shadow behind her was moving. Shadows don't move, "I think th-"

"We don't care what you think," Temari interrupted May's warning and continued grow her voice in volume, "You lot are nothing but trouble so do us all a favour and just leave."

Elle noticed the shadow moving too, she did the best she could, "_Gaara, something's behind Temari._"

"Temari," he called quickly, then everything happened at once. Temari dived forwards as Zetsu appeared out of the shadows behind her, Kankuro managed to punch Abi before jumping out of the way for Temari, Team Kakashi prepared themselves for battle against the Akatsuki creature, May caught the falling Abi, Tay jumped protectively in front of Elle, Elle's eyes grew wide as she watched more shadows turn into the multi-coloured man, and Gaara watched all of this calmly.

"Well Kazekage-sama," all of the Zetsu's smirked and spoke in unison, "I thought I was never going to see daylight again? Why hello," he looked around and noticed the full room, his eyes picking out the ones that were going to be his new 'comrades', "Who do we have here?"

Gaara threw the door open and cleared a path, "May, get out of here. Go to my office and lock the door, he can't get in there."

"Right," May began to push Abi out the door, Tay and Elle following close behind, "_We're going to Gaara's office…_"

Zetsu smiled to himself, the Kazekage has made himself friends with the enemy, now was time to have a little revenge.

Kakashi noticed how one of the many Zetsu's were eyeing up the retreating girls, he looked sideways at the only kunoichi in his team, "Sakura go with them, they may need a medic ninja if they run into anymore of him."

"Yes Sensei."

The cherry blossom left quickly without a need for any second bidding, Zetsu just started laughing at the concern on Kakashi's face, "They're going to need an undertaker more than a medic ninja when I've finished with them, it's obvious that they're not ninja."

"They have nothing to do with this," Sasuke sliced through one of the Zetsu's that was about to leave the room, "Your fight is with us Zetsu, I'm surprised that you didn't immediately leave actually."

"I've already gone, these clones are merely here to thank the people of Suna for being oh so generous with their hospitality."

Naruto was completely confused, "If they were so generous, why are you hurting people?"

"He was being sarcastic Dobe."

"Shut up Teme."

"Now that's out of the way," Kakashi sighed at the idiocy of his students, or more specifically student, "Should we get rid of these clones and then find the rest?"

"Sounds like a plan," sand darted in and out around the room, destroy every clone it came across until the room was completely empty, "These clones need to be destroyed, everyone, divide and concur."

"Right."

* * *

"_In here_," May ran in and checked for the fourth time that the door was locked once everyone was inside, they weren't in any danger from Zetsu but Sakura was right behind them so they couldn't let up the act, "_Is everyone okay?_"

Tay leaned against the desk, she was extremely confused, "_Why do we need to run? Are we seriously in danger?_"

"_Not from Zetsu, just the others_," May put her ear against the door listening for oncoming people, she heard Sakura retreating but nothing else, "_Hopefully suspicion will drop after this and we can get around scot free_."

Abi looked out the window, ninja were flying everywhere protecting the village and attacking the many Zetsu's that were all over the village, "_So we just wait here until Gaara gets us?_"

"_That's the plan_."

"_Man we have to wait around this hole for three more days? This sucks,_" Tay sighed and tried to read some of the papers that were lying about, problem being she couldn't read Japanese, "_Hey May can you read this stuff?_"

"_No way, I can read tiny segments but Japanese is super hard to read with all the different Kanjis._"

"_Man I'm so bored, wait a minute,_" Tay turned and looked curiously at her smallest friend, "_Elle you haven't said anything at all, are you feeling okay?_"

Elle fidgeted with her fingers, looking incredibly guilty, "_Well…it's just…I guess I'm kinda feeling guilty about all of this…I mean, we set a bad guy and everything…what if people get hurt?_"

"_Now it comes out_," May sighed, she was scared this would happen, she took too long breaking Zetsu out, "_Elle we have to do this, if we don't Tobi is bound to kill us off. It's either we set a non-combat ninja free in a village full of very capable ninja or lose our lives completely._"

"_When you put it like that it sounds so reasonable_."

"_We don't have a choice Elle, let's just get this over with so we can get back to the hideout_."

"_Okay May_."

* * *

Kankuro groaned as he flung his puppets at several Zetsu's at once, "We starved him, how did he regenerate so much chakra?"

"Just kill him and stop complaining," Temari swung her fan, annihilating the same amount as her brother, "We'll sort that out later."

"Whatever you say Onee-chan, at least we know who's behind this whole mess."

Gaara turned his head in question, this was an answer he wanted, "Well?"

"The Akatsuki."

"You're a genius Kankuro," Temari rolled her eyes and calmly destroyed the Zetsu's in her way, "A complete fucking genius. Man this guy is annoying."

"Agreed," Gaara made several hand signs and planted his palms on the ground, "Gokusa Maisō," the ground ate up twice as many Zetsu's as his two siblings had destroyed added together, "There is an uncountable amount but thankfully they're weak."

"Insanely weak."

"I think I counted about over fifty dead here, so should we move to a different area or stick around here Gaara?"

"Let's get further into the village," Gaara jumped back and sent more sand flying as more Zetsu's appeared, "The Konoha ninja are watching this place, we should have everything cleaned up in about twenty minutes."

Temari smirked, "Let's make it ten."

Kankuro jumped beside his siblings as they began to run, "We do it in five and I'll shout everyone drinks."

* * *

"Man Gaara-kun gets all the fun," Naruto sighed and sulked with his teammates as they walked through the now empty halls of the mansion, "Why do we have to stay here and look after the 'guests'?"

Sasuke smirked at his loud mouthed friend, "Because it's not our village Dobe, if the orders are to watch some girls we go and watch some girls."

"You sounded like a real pervert just then Teme."

"Shut up."

Kakashi laughed lightly and looked vaguely around a corner, "Is the office this way?"

"Kakashi Sensei," Sakura sighed deeply, was she the only person in this team with a brain? "This way, they're probably waiting for someone to get them out already."

"It's not like they have a lot to worry about, Gaara-sama did says that no one can get into his room while the door is locked, so unless Zetsu was in there to begin with they'll be fine."

"You're so careless Sensei."

Kakashi smiled and pointed at the door they stopped at, "Is this the one?"

"Yah."

"So this is where they decided to hide the pretty little darlings, tell me girls are you scared?"

Kakashi froze for a mere second, that was Zetsu's voice. Naruto grabbed the door handle and began to pull violently at the door handle, "How the hell did he get in there?"

Kakashi pushed Naruto back and began to pound at the door, "May open the door, let us in."

"Kakashi-san," she called from the doorway, her voice sounded panicked, "Help us."

* * *

May picked at her finger nails as she called back to the ninja outside the door, "Please, we're so scared."

"_What the hell do we do now?_" Tay's voice was shaky but loud as she broke multiple items around the room, "_We need to open the door and let them save us._"

Zetsu shook the hand of each girl in greeting, he laughed lightly, "Come on girlys, this won't hurt much."

Elle was standing by the window, they were pretending to be terrified as Zetsu 'attacked' them, she looked calmly out of it. It looked like they got rid of all the Zetsu's in town, guess time was up. She looked back to see Zetsu holding out his hand to her, she turned her head away in denial, no way was she going to accept the fact that she was part of the Akatsuki. He frowned at first but smirked after a moment and picked Elle up by the waist, "Why don't we have a little fun?"

Elle tried to squirm but he grasp was too strong, "_May, what is he doing?_"

"Let her go," May finally ran to the door so she could unlock it, she got a bad feeling something really bad was about to happen, "Put her down you asshole."

Zetsu laughed lightly as May finally unlocked the door, "Ever want to learn how to fly?" He calmly threw her through the window as Kakashi sliced him with a kunai. The clone vanished and the remaining three girls ran to the window each worried completely.

Tay shook her head at first and then jumped out after her falling friend, May and Abi gasped in shock, "TAY."

* * *

Elle was too shocked to even scream, Tay was falling towards her at the same rate she was towards the ground. Finally she found her voice, "_Are you fucking crazy?_"

"_Hold on I'll catch you_."

"_I really don't think that's the problem here Tay_."

"_Why not?_"

"_WE'RE FALLING TOWARDS THE GROUND._"

"_I didn't think this through very well did I?_"

"_You think?_"

Tay managed to grab Elle's hand and pulled her up so they were at the same level. Elle groaned and closed her eyes, hugging Tay as they fell, "_What I wouldn't give for wings right now…_"

Tay laughed lightly, she was starting to see how wrong this decision was, but at least she was going to go down at the same time as her friend. She gripped Elle tighter and cried, "_To infinity and beyond…_"

"_You're such a dick Tay_."

"_Do you really want those to be the last words you ever say to me_."

"_No, I want them to be potatoes love me_."

"_Well you got your wish_."

The duo laughed once more as the ground drew closer, if someone was going to save them they should've done so by now. Tay looked around for someone to help them but everything was just starting to look like a mass blur of colours. She and Elle were the only shapes she could properly make out, she finally realised just how small Elle really was, and just how fragile she looked when she was scared. Elle noticed that Tay would always be stronger than her, mentally and physically, she really needed to thank her for being her friend but she wasn't given the chance as she and Tay were encased in darkness.

There was a sight bump and the two stopped, they could still feel themselves breathing so they couldn't be dead, maybe they were in between worlds…

May's voice rang clear through the dead space, "_Tay what the hell were you thinking?_"

Scratching noises surfaced followed by the blinding light of day, May pushed through with Abi. Abi smack Tay on the head and growled deeply, "_You do realise that you could've been killed right?_"

"_I'm not dead?_" Tay began to pat her body down to make sure there were no missing parts, "_Then what the hell happened?_"

"_Kankuro got his puppets to catch you two before you hit the ground, you were so close it was scary_."

Elle stumbled out of the puppet and smiled shakily, "_I just got thrown out a several story window and lived._"

"_Congratulations_," May rolled her eyes and put the slightly shaken girl on her back with some help form Abi, "_To celebrate you can go to bed, okay?_"

"_Yes May_."

The sand siblings caught up to the leaving duo except one, he was looking incredibly guilty. He walked over to Tay and scratched the back of his head vaguely, "Sorry."

Tay looked at Abi, "_Is he apologizing?_"

"_Looks like it_."

"I've been a real jerk but you obviously care about your friends just as much as I do about my family," he smiled shyly and held his hand out to her, "Can we just start over?"

Tay looked from his face to his face then back to his face, eventually she smiled and took his hand in her, "Okay."


	12. Chapter 12

**A.N. Finally! The end of the Suna mission, I really hoped you like it so far. Remember I am always open for suggestions and I desperately need them for when I get writers block. Constructive criticism is also accepted if it is going to help...ENJOY PEOPLE! 3**

* * *

"Kazekage-sama, I suggest you call a meeting for the entire Gokage immediately," Baki tried to advise Gaara for the fifth time that day, "Zetsu escaped three days ago, they need to know."

Gaara sighed, he could see where Baki was coming from but he couldn't just leave while the girls were here, "Just give me a little more time Baki-san, I'll call it soon."

"Fine, but today is your last day, you need to send away the request tomorrow."

"Yes, I know," Gaara sighed again over his breakfast, everyone was trying not to stare as the Kazekage got lectured but it wasn't hard to ignore, "Is that everything Baki?"

"Well another letter arrived from Elle's father, it's labelled urgent," Baki handed over the scroll calmly, "I hope nothing is wrong."

Elle quickly looked to Abi, "_Did he just say my father?_"

"_I think he did,_" Abi looked to May who shrugged; Tay did the same, "_I've got a bad feeling…_"

Gaara curiously unrolled the scroll and began to read carefully, his face dropped the more he read. Eventually he looked up, only to glare at May, "You had been reporting about us?"

"Correction, I had been recording everything that happened to any of the girls here," she carefully fixed her glasses, avoiding both his and the curious glances of her friends, and lied, once again, flawlessly, "I only sent the report the other day, the bird seems to have flown rather quickly this time."

"The bird doesn't matter," Gaara tossed the scroll to Temari who started to read it herself, "Her father is completely appalled with the way we have been treating you all, we have shown you nothing but courtesy."

"Courtesy? We have been accused of treachery, insulted, assaulted, harassed and have been treated like idiots because some of us don't actually speak Japanese. I wouldn't exactly call that courteous."

Elle looked around the table as everyone's faces fell, except hers, Tay's and Abi's, she looked over at May who was trying to avoid her gaze, "_Why is everyone looking like they want to kill you?_"

"So Elle's father wants her home, I think it's safe to assume there will be no marriage…"

"_May, I'm talking to you…_"

"You definitely have tried to make things easy, might I suggest you talk with your siblings and friends about their lack of courtesy…"

"_Dammit May_," Elle slammed her hands on the table and stood up so quickly her chair fell to the floor, "_What the hell is going on here?_"

May sighed and closed her eyes, "_We're leaving today, go pack your things._"

"_Leaving? That letter…'_"

"_Go pack, we leave in twenty minutes_."

"Hold on a minute," Kankuro was obviously biting his tongue after he read the letter, he needed to make up for his mistakes, "I don't know what you're telling her but just give us one more chance. Elle is clearly upset with what is going on, just one more chance and we'll show you what we're really like."

May shook her head and stood to leave, "No second chances, orders are orders and now we must go. _Tay, Abi, Elle, we're leaving this village right now_."

"_Yes May_," none of the girls looked happy but followed the orders willingly, May was obviously the top of the hierarchy in this group.

Kankuro waited until May had shut the door before finally facing the gaze of his younger brother, "Gaara I am so sorry…"

"It's okay Kankuro-san," Gaara smiled softly at his worried brother, he knew he was only trying to help, "Family should always come first, I should have listened to you from the beginning."

"Gaara…"

* * *

Elle roughly shoved her kimonos into her bag then threw the bag against the wall, "_Obviously he doesn't trust us to do this on our own, he had to sweep in and ruin everything._"

"_I reckon he's just worried about us,_" Abi tried to reason but she knew it was pointless, Elle hated the fact Itachi wrote a letter to get them out of Suna, "_Come one Elle, admit it, we needed this_."

"_We had a plan, he had to go and ruin it_."

She sighed sadly, there was no getting through to her at the moment, "_Let's just go to the carriage, m'kay?_"

"_Whatever_," Elle flipped her fan in front of her face then stormed out the door in a surprisingly dignified matter. Tay followed her quickly after grabbing Elle's discarded bag. The two ignored everyone they passed and continued until they got to the streets, where a puppet master was waiting for them. Elle sighed and looked boredly at him, "Yes Kankuro-kun?"

"I know I've been a jerk but don't take this out on everyone else," he talked to Elle but it was implied more at Tay, "Please just stay a couple more days and then make your decision."

Elle looked sideways at Tay, "_He's telling us to stay right?_"

"_That's what I'm guessing_."

"_Why is he talking more at you?_"

Tay looked away, Kankuro mentally slapped himself in the face. Tay hadn't told Elle about it yet, they really weren't going to stick around now. Tay drew in a breath, "_He kinda threated me_."

"_Threatened you?_"

"_Only because he thought we were trying to hurt his family, but no harm done, see?_"

"_I knew that something weird was going on with you, you're never this quiet_," Elle began to glare at the man before her, nobody threatens her friends and gets away with it, "Move."

"I know that you're mad but…"

"MOVE," she was already feeling worthless and was in no mood to stick around here any longer, "Leaving now."

He stood aside and allowed the girls to pass, he needed Uzumaki. Somehow that annoying brat could change anyone's mind but he would have to move fast or the girls will leave before they have a chance to be turned.

* * *

"_Stupid oaf, no one threatens my friends_," Elle began to curse to herself as they drew closer to the carriage, "_Inconsiderate, moronic, stupid, piece of… of… asshole poo face._"

Tay laughed at Elle's lame insult and began to stroke her invisible beard, "_Now that sort of language is inappropriate for a girl of your age_."

"_Dick, shit, cock, tits, bitch, motherfucker, pussy, cunt, douche bag._"

"_You forgot…no I think you actually got them all_."

"_Damn straight_," Elle laughed, her mood lightening slightly, she laughed harder when she saw May and Abi already wait with the carriage, "_How the hell did you beat us here?_"

"_Because,_" May boredly opened the door and pointed into it, "_Now get your scrawny butt in the carriage_."

"_Why of course, oh fairy godmother_."

"_Shut up you twit_," she lightly smacked Elle's head as she climbed in; May nodded to the others and jumped in the driver's seat, "_Let's go_."

With a small flick of the wrist the horses started off, the trip was going to be a long and boring one…or so they thought. Half way through the desert May noticed something was chasing them, and they were catching up fast. She gave the reins a great strike and set the horses speeding through the dunes, Tay and Abi jumped onto the side of the rocking carriage. Elle stuck her head out the window, "_What's going on?_"

May flicked the reins again, the chaser was still catching up, "_Someone is chasing us and it looks like they're very, very fast._"

"_That's not good is it?_"

"_No Elle, it's not good. It is in fact fabulous_."

"_Really_?"

"_How am I still friends with you?_"

"_Incoming_," Abi cried and grabbed some smoke bombs out of her bag, "_Everyone, hold your breath…_"

"_ABI WAIT!_"

Abi threw the bombs on the ground but it no effect on the soft sand. Tay groaned to herself, "_You just wasted some very good ammo._"

"_Sorry, I thought it would go boom not plop_."

May gripped harder on the reins and gave another flick, "_Your onomatopoeia is indeed excellent but completely useless here._"

"_I said sorry_."

"_Shit they're close_," May cursed and was about to snap the reins again when a huge explosion sounded and a dark cloud popped out form the sand, she laughed loudly, "_Your smoke bombs just got trod on, that was genius Abi_."

"_Thank you_."

"_She didn't do anything except screw up_," Elle complained with her head sticking out the window and a strong pout plastered on her face, "_When I screw up you yell at me_."

May laughed and kept the horses running, "_When you screw up shit happens, when she screws up miracles happen_."

"_I wouldn't call that a miracle._"

"_What would you call it then?_"

"_Luck_."

"_May get these horses moving_," Tay yelled with her head looking back at the cloud of black smoke, objects were coming out of it, "_Abi's little trick didn't work, they're still coming_."

"_I see that Tay_."

Elle looked down at the horses, May was too busy snapping the reins and worrying about the thing chasing them to notice that the reins were actually breaking, "_May, I think we should exit the carriage._"

"_Elle not now, just get your head back in the carriage_."

"_Abi?_"

"_Stay in the carriage Elle_."

"_Please listen to me, Tay?_"

"_Yeah?_"

"_The reins are breaking_."

"_Oh_…_Shit._"

The reins broke when May snapped them for the last time; the horses began to run freely and sent the carriage buckling. Elle dived out the window, successfully taking Tay to the sand with her, May and Abi followed shortly after. The carriage continued until it disappeared into the horizon. Elle stood up and smiled at her friends, "_And this is why you should listen to me_."

"_That is the least of our worries_," May jumped up and started to watch the incoming object with a panicked expression on her face, "_Brace yourselves_."

All the girls stood in a small huddle waiting for whatever it was to finally arrive, they were definitely surprised when a worn out voice started laughing, "Geez you guys can move."

May's mouth dropped in both anger and amazement, "Naruto-san? You were chasing us?"

"Yeah, we wanted to talk with you guys before you left," he laughed again as his team caught up with him, "Why were you in such a hurry to leave?"

"Orders."

"Oh, you want us to escort you to your boat now that your carriage has run off?"

May looked back to find the other three shaking their head rapidly at her, "I don't think so."

"It's the least we can do," Kakashi smiled softly and apologetically, "After all, we did blame you for something you had nothing to do with."

Sakura glared at her sensei, "I never said anything like that, it was you and Sasuke-kun doing all the blaming."

"See Teme, even Sakura-chan knows you did it."

"Shut up Dobe."

"Or what?"

Sasuke quickly punched Naruto and sent him flying metres away. Naruto laughed as he rose from the sand, "Kagebushin No Jutsu," a second Naruto appeared and started to create a Rasengan, the swirling sound was soon drowned out by the sound of a thousand screeching birds, Naruto smirked, "Get ready."

Sasuke started running forwards, electric chakra emitting from his hand with the sound of a thousand birds, "Naruto!"

"Sasuke!"

"IDIOTS," Sakura punched the both of them before they could reach each other, she growled deeply in the back of her throat and her fists shook with anger, "What is the point in fighting all the way out in the desert? We're here to help the girls not kill each other."

Naruto pouted and pointed at Sasuke whining, "But he started it."

"I don't care who started it, it's over," she stood up and turned to bow at the group that was supposed to be standing behind her, "I'm so sorry for them…huh?"

The spot she was bowing to was completely empty, small foot prints in the sand were the only indication of where they went. Naruto crawled over and looked closely at the footprints, "When did they leave?"

"Probably when we started arguing before the fight," Sasuke pulled him out of the sand and looked into the horizon, "They seem to have gotten right out of the desert."

"We're not that far from the edge, I can see the forest form here."

"That's not the point."

"Then what is the point?"

"They can move quickly and silently, we need to start running now if we want to catch up to them."

Sakura sighed, "Why didn't anyone notice?"

"Yeah," Sasuke turned to look at Kakashi, "How come you didn't see them?"

"Hmm?" Kakashi pulled his nose out of a book and finally realised the situation, "Did you three let the girls get away? That was a bad idea."

Sakura sighed again; she really was the only person in her team with a brain.

* * *

May began to puff heavily, "_No…mor…more. Rest…_"

"_Come on May_," Abi started pulling the girl down the familiar road that they found, "_The inn is this way; once we get there we won't have to worry about getting caught_."

"_So…ti…tir…tired_."

Eventually they pulled the unfit girl all the way to just outside the inn, they all sighed in relief; they had finally made it back and now didn't have to worry about anything.

"You guys can run fast too? That's awesome."

The four turned slowly to see Team Kakashi smiling and waving at them. They nearly made it. So close. So very close.

Kakashi held out a small bottle of water to May, "Here you go, now which way to the boat? We'll help get you there."

"_May get rid of them_," Tay laughed lightly through clenched teeth, "_Right now_."

"_I know, I know, just let me think_."

* * *

Itachi stood at the window, he was hidden enough that he couldn't be seen but could still watch the girls. This was not supposed to happen. His little brother was not supposed to be anywhere near here. Itachi clenched his fists tightly, he wished that he could just go out and just tell Sasuke everything but he would put everyone's lives in danger, he would ruin Pein's plan.

"Otouto, please just leave," he leaned further back, Sasuke's eyes had shot to his window, he lowered his chakra so it was undetectable, "Take your team and go home now, leave."

Elle had noticed Sasuke looking at the window and had begun shouting and pointing in random directions. She was trying to divert the attention away from the window and luckily it was working. Itachi nodded approvingly, as much as she didn't want to be a part of the Akatsuki, it seemed she understood that if he was caught her chances of dying would increase.

He looked back out, both groups appeared to be in an intense argument, "Shake them off and get inside, I don't care how you do it just get inside right now."

* * *

"Leave us alone, we don't need your help."

"We're going to help you whether you want us to or not."

"Go away."

"No, we're helping."

"Stalkers."

Kakashi sighed, this was going nowhere. He pulled Naruto out of the argument and held his hand out to May, "Let us make it up to you."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

"With sugar on top."

"Well when you say it like that…no."

"Well why not?"

May was taken back slightly by the sudden question, "What?"

"Why don't you want us to help you?"

"Because…" May looked to the others quickly, "_They want to know why we don't need their help, what should I say?_"

"_Tell them we don't talk to stalkers_."

"_Say it's cause they're gay._"

"_Just tell them to fuck off_."

May sighed and turned back, "We can't let you help us because…of…the…ah…tension!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "The tension?"

"Yes the tension between…," May looked to Abi who indicated to a person with her head, "You and…" she looked to Abi again. Abi nodded at May, May shook her head, Abi nodded and May sighed, "Me…?"

"You and me? What tension is there exactly?"

"_Say hate tension._"

"_No, no, no, no emo tension._"

"_I say stick to the basic sexual tension_."

May groaned and waved her hand in front of her face, "Just…tension…that's why we can't travel together okay? Now bye, bye."

"Whatever it is you can work it out," Naruto pushed the Uchiha right next to May and smiled, "Now kiss and make up."

An idea popped into May's head, she was going to do just that quite literally. She had to move fast and she knew it. She swung her hand around a gripped the back of his head, she pulled him down and smashed their lips together. An uneven silence hung around the groups, silence out of shock, amusement and hate. Sakura was first to act, "GET OFF MY SASUKE-KUN."

Kakashi grabbed the hateful kunoichi and nodded at May, "Yes I think you'll be fine by yourselves. Come one Sasuke, we're leaving."

Sasuke ran off, completely unfazed by May's sudden kiss, and dragged a hysteric Naruto along behind him. May turned to the rest of her friends who were gasping in silence, "_What?_"

"_You little slut,_" Tay folded her arms and frowned.

"_Practicing for the corner shop, ae you prostitute?_" Abi had a small smirk planted across her face.

"_May is a whore, May is a whore_," Elle began to skip in a small circle singing the phrase repeatedly.

The blushing May stormed inside of the inn, they weren't the ones she was scared about facing, she still had Itachi left to deal with. She kissed his little brother, he was not going to be amused.


	13. Chapter 13

**A.N. Hello! Right now it's holidays and instead of doing my homework (please don't kill me *censored*) I've been writing this, and for future chapters I've also put up a few polls for pairings (I know I nag a lot about this but it really will help me), I only need them for three of the girls May, Abi and Elle because I have a pairing for Deidara (thank you JackofBladesIII for the pairing). Please keep reviewing heaps because it makes me uber happy.**

**And I love you too Omigesh for always reviewing (you should give me some ideas cause you're so awesome (-_^) THANKS HEAPS)  
**

* * *

"You're horrible Shikamaru-kun," Ino had begun lecturing him for the fifth time ever since he went and blamed Sasuke for stealing Hidan's body, "Sasuke-kun would never do something like that, he's changed back to the man he was before." She started blushing and squeaking affectionately, "The moment Sasuke-kun walks back in this village I'll take him away from that giant forehead and we'll live together, happily ever after."

"You're so troublesome."

"Shut up, you're just jealous that I've found my one true love."

Choji nearly chocked o his chips, "One true love? I never realised Sasuke had an emotion other than…well…I didn't realise he had emotions."

"Shut up fat ass, what would you know?"

Shikamaru froze immediately; the Taboo had been spoken…

"I'M JUST BIG BONED!"

"Ino you idiot."

"Shut up and run, lecture me later."

* * *

Tobi ran out and picked up Elle to hug her the moment the girls and Itachi returned, "Yay Elle-chan, did you miss Tobi-chan?"

Elle giggled softly and returned the overly friendly ninja's hug, "Yes Tobi-chan, missed you."

"YAY, wanna play hide and seek?"

"Yes!"

"One…two…three…"

Elle laughed and ran off to hide. Itachi shook his head slightly, she was only humouring him and he didn't know it, it actually made him slightly happy to see Tobi being made a fool. Itachi gave the other three a small push forwards, "You guys can report to Pein-sama."

"Yes Itachi-kun."

Tobi waited until the girls were well inside before he stopped counting, "Everything went just as well as I planned, Zetsu is back and those girls have proved their loyalty."

"Loyalty?" Itachi was very confused, how did that mission prove their loyalty?

"May had a chance to tell everything to Hatake Kakashi, she chose not to. Abi had a chance to tell Uzumaki Naruto, she chose not to. Tay had several chances to break down and tell Kankuro, she also chose not to. Finally Elle spent most of her time alone with the Kazekage, and not once did she even hint to him about the Akatsuki," Tobi smirked beneath his mask, he had complete control of everyone in this house, "Each girl could have told, none did. Their loyalty has been proven. Tell Pein that their training must be increased."

"Certainly."

"And if I find out you keep something like May being able to speak Japanese from me again, you will be punished."

"Yes Tobi-sama."

Tobi giggled and put on his fake voice, "Uh-uh Ita-chan, Tobi-kun now," he turned and ran into the house calling, "Ready or not here I come."

Itachi began to curse under his breath; Tobi had been watching the girls the whole time they were in Suna. He always wondered why they had been sent on such a dangerous mission and now he knew, Tobi was playing with them. He was playing with the live of four innocent girls who had nowhere to go, no one to turn to. Itachi had to get them out of here, he could send them to Sasuke and he could look after them but…Tobi would hunt them down and silence them permanently before they had a chance to actually live.

Pein came outside to see Itachi just standing there, "What's wrong Itachi-san?"

"What's your plan Pein-sama?"

"What?"

"What's your plan to get out the Akatsuki?" Itachi walked over and spoke to him in a hushed but urgent tone, "We need to get rid of Tobi and get out of here."

Pain put a hand on his should, he could feel Itachi's unseen anger, "Breathe, just breathe. I'm not sure what has got you all worked up but it won't help anyone. The girls need to be trained some before we can even think of trying to put the plan into action."

"How much time will that take?"

"It really depends on how quickly they improve, then there are the missions and such they must go on. We cannot rush these things Itachi-san, all good things to those who wait."

Itachi took a calming breath before walking back inside with Pein, "That could be a problem with Elle-chan, is there anyway your plan will work without her?"

"There is a reason I chose four, no more and no less," Pein slid a small scroll into Itachi's hand and continued as though it never happened, "That is a Jutsu I created, teach it to each of the girls."

"What does it do?"

"If all goes according to plan it will trap and destroy the very being trapped inside. Each girl will act as a corner, their chakra needs to spread, connect and merge with the other three corners. The combined chakra will create a sort of cage, not only trapping whoever is inside but also dulling their chakra to the point where they can no longer use it."

"I see, then the person inside will be completely defenceless but only while they are inside this...cage."

Pein smirked knowingly, "That's only the first part. The next part is the four corners draw closer together until they can touch the subject, then they can send the cage into the person and dull the chakra on the inside. Depending on the person's knowledge of how to use their own chakra will affect how long they aren't able to use their chakra…"

"And him?"

"I'd give it two minutes at the most, worst case scenario would only be thirty seconds."

"That would be all we need," Itachi and Pein continued into the kitchen where the only other person was Konan, and she knew exactly what they were taking about, "But I don't understand why it has to be these girls. Just because their chakra is slightly heightened here?"

"Yes it is heightened slightly but it is also the same. That's what is needed for the Jutsu to work."

Konan nodded from her cup of steaming tea, "The 'cage' is made of extremely powerful chakra because it is made from four who have merged theirs together, in this world everyone has their own individual signal so no one can completely merge their chakra with another's, let alone four of them. Now in the other world everyone's chakra is the same, even if it is tapped into, because no one has ever used it so it has had no time to evolve or adapt to the individual."

Pein smiled and placed his hand on her shoulder, "The girls tapped into their chakra at the same time and so it is roughly at the same level, they can merge their chakra together to create the cage."

"But there is one question left," Itachi put the kettle on, it's steaming whistle drowning out the last of the conversation and his worries, "Will it work?"

* * *

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Ino this is your entire fault."

"Shut up Shikamaru and run."

Team Kakashi watched in disbelief as Ino and Shikamaru ran in circles as they tried to avoid Choji's giant rolling body. Naruto eventually started laughing, "Can't blame me for this one."

"Shut up Dobe, no one cares."

Ino's head spun quickly, "Sasuke-kun!" She ran towards her crush, leaving Shikamaru to continue running alone, and wrapped her arms around his neck, "You took so long getting back."

Sakura sighed and shook her head, "Geez Ino-chan, you're such a fangirl."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"And like you're little Miss Perfect?"

"Yeah Sakura-chan," Naruto laughed again, not realising what he was about to say, "You flipped the other day when May-chan kissed Teme."

"WHAT!" Ino gasped and began to shake Naruto rapidly, "GIVE ME DETAILS, WHO IS THIS WOMAN? WHAT DOES SHE LOOK LIKE? WHERE DOES SHE LIVE?"

"Calm down Ino-pig, she's long gone by now," Sakura dragged Ino away and began to gossip about May, "She lives in some far away land and won't be coming back ever."

"Why did she kiss Sasuke-kun?"

"Why didn't she kiss Sasuke-kun?"

"Was she pretty?"

"Very, except her glasses, if you got rid of those you and I might have had some competition."

Choji stopped being angry so he could slap Sasuke on the back, "Way to go, now does this girlfriend of yours have any friends?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Sasuke rolled his eyes like it was the most boring thing to talk about, "She was just trying to get rid of us and it unfortunately worked."

"Why would she be getting rid of you?"

"I'm not sure, but I will find out."

* * *

Kankuro waved to the villagers who were seeing them off, "We'll be back soon, don't worry."

"You know you don't actually have to tell them that, they should know by now," Temari adjusted her fan slightly as they began to move faster through the windy desert, "I'm starting to think you just like the attention."

"I can't help it if he village loves me."

"They love Gaara, not you."

"Onee-chan…"

"Don't even try it Otouto."

"Man, I can tell this is going to be a long trip," Kankuro sighed and caught up to his ever silent brother, "How did the other Kages take the letter?"

Gaara sighed shamefully, "Even though it was just words I could tell they were beyond disappointed. I was trusted in guarding the last living member of the Akatsuki until they decided on a suitable punishment for him and I let him escape."

"Don't let it get to you, it wasn't your fault," Temari couldn't really voice her opinion on who she thought really broke him out, it would just upset Gaara even more than he already was, "The…Akatsuki…really are tricky."

"You still think it was Elle and her friends don't you."

Kankuro was giving her a silent signal to shut up but Temari chose to ignore it, "They show up for a few weeks and Zetsu gets out, just add up the facts Gaara. A letter arrives only weeks before they arrive from a **month** long boat trip, they could speak an entirely different and unknown language, the 'person' that broke Zetsu out was actually a clone according to reports so any one of them could have set him free and they magically get ordered 'home' after Elle's father receives a letter that should have taken weeks to get there."

"You and I both know that the birds get faster once they know where they're actually going."

"And then there is this," Temari tossed him a scroll she found in the room the girls had been staying in, "I can't read any of it but if May did send a letter, why was this one left behind?"

Gaara pressed the scroll against his head in frustration, how could he be so blind? "They're the ones who did it. I'm so stupid."

Temari swallowed her guilt, she didn't mean to make him feel even worse about himself, "Gaara, you were too busy trying to do something that would a benefited so many people, they had probably had this planned out weeks ago. They were one step ahead of us this time."

"It won't happen again," Gaara put the scroll in his pocket, a reminder to never doubt his siblings again, "I'm sorry for not listening."

"It's fine Gaara, just remember to listen to your Onee-chan next time."

Kankuro started laughing and scratched the side of his blushing face, "If we ever find them, can I do the interrogating?"

"Kankuro…"

"You're such a pervert."

"Hey they weren't bad looking girls, in fact they were extremely good looking. I wouldn't mind having a piece of that."

Gaara started laughing at his brother's behaviour, "Which one? There were four."

"I wouldn't mind all of them."

"Like you could handle that."

"Gaara, I can control three puppets with my mere finger tips, I think I can handle four teenage girls. Give your brother some credit now."

"I'm pretty sure those four would kick your ass," Temari started laughing now, somehow Kankuro could always cheer Gaara up, "Women are very complex creatures."

"And you know this how?"

"I'm a woman genius."

"There is a difference between those women and you," Kankuro looked over at Gaara, he gave a quick wink before looking deadly serious at his sister, "They are not fat."


	14. Chapter 14

"You could speak Japanese this whole time?" Kisame laughed like it was the funniest joke he had ever heard, "You were smart to keep it hidden, now you know what everyone really thinks."

May smiled at him as the jumped through the many trees, "Yeah, now I know you're nothing more than a giant teddy bear."

"Hehe can't help who I am."

He was taking the four girls out to a training ground that Pein had set up a few miles away from the mansion. They had been there a few times but still needed to be reminded exactly where to go. Today all the members were going to be taking turns overseeing the girl's training, they were training everyday but thanks to some ointment Konan had their muscles recovered over night for the next day's training.

Elle frowned deeply as they reached the training grounds, "_I don't want to train_."

"_Not again Elle,_" Abi sighed and began to fish up a fish from a nearby pond to practice her medical Ninjutsu on, "_Look, we're stuck here no matter what we do so just suck it up and get on with your life._"

"_Abi…_"

She looked over and sighed, Elle was just about it tears, she gave a small wave of her hand, "_I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Hey can you help me catch a fish? I'm really bad at it_."

"_Okay_," Elle smiled, she knew just how to tug on Abi's heart strings.

Tay laughed lightly as Elle quickly disrobed and jumped into the water, "_I will never understand how that girl can happily jump into freezing cold water at this ungodly hour of the morning_."

"_Tay_," May sighed deeply as she waited for Kisame to get ready to show her some water Ninjutsu, "_It's eleven that is not early_."

"_Is for me_."

"_Lazy bitch_."

"Hey," Hidan's voice rang out clear through the trees as he and Tobi came out, "No fucking whatever you're speaking, you know Japanese so speak it."

"_Asshole_."

"_Agreed_."

"What did I just fucking say?"

"Leave them alone Hidan," Kisame growled softly, he didn't like being interrupted, "What are you two doing here anyway?"

Tobi bounced up and down on the spot, "Pein-chan-sama told us to come get you because he needs you to go do something for him."

"Like what?"

Hidan shrugged in bored fashion, "Who cares just going fucking do…Holy Jashin," his eyes drifted towards the pond where Elle had just climbed out with a fish for Abi, "Now that is how I like my bitches to look."

May ran over and threw her cloak over Elle, "_Why aren't you wearing more clothes?_"

"_Have you ever tried to catch a fish in that cloak?_" Elle bent over and began to rinse her hair out of water, "_It's so much faster in your underwear._"

"_Yeah well Hidan just got a full view of you_."

"_So? Tobi's looking at your butt_."

Tobi wasn't looking at her butt, specifically, he was looking at her entire structure. All the training had slightly made May's body structure more broader but at the same time curvier. She had changed from the day where she first arrived and he was starting to like what he was seeing. Apparently so was Hidan, "Hey May, why aren't you swimming? Let's see your ass!"

"Unless you want to eat your own cock, don't say it again."

"Come here and say that you bitch!"

Tobi smirked to himself, she's got attitude too? He was really taking a liking to this girl.

* * *

"What a drag," Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head as Temari explained to him what happened in Suna, "What means I have to actually apologize to Sasuke when we get back to Suna, so troublesome."

Temari smirked, they were waiting outside for the Gokage to finish their meeting and they could return to their individual villages, she gave him a friendly push, "Two questions; why are you even here? And why do you have to apologize to the dreaded Sasuke?"

"The Hokage wants me close by for strategic purposes because I'm the first to have ever taken down the 'immortal' Hidan and I blamed Sasuke for taking Hidan's body, right now it's looking like it was this new Akatsuki group."

"You were the one who took down Hidan?"

"Don't sound so surprised woman."

She laughed lightly and played with the very tips of his hair, "Sorry then, anyway what makes you think it's a new Akatsuki?"

"Well it can't the originals, they're all dead," Shikamaru grabbed her fiddling hand and held it down with his, "Except Hidan and Zetsu, now you said there were three girls who came to your village…"

"Four. May, Tay, Abi and Elle."

"Right, that makes six members, and it sounds like they're under orders from a higher power so we can add another person maybe even two. So take the total number up to eight. The Akatsuki is rebuilding themselves and I wouldn't be surprised if they're planning to attack the villages again, I see the worst case scenario being another war."

"You can't seriously be thinking that, we just finished a war."

"Which is why we need to eliminate the threat as soon as possible," Shikamaru sighed and looked up at the cloud filled sky, "What I wouldn't give to be a cloud right now…"

Temari yanked his hand sharply so he looked at her, "Are you saying you'd rather leave than help defend the ones you love."

He smiled and pressed his forehead to hers, "I could never leave the ones I love."

"Good, otherwise I'd hunt you down."

"Ah, Temari?"

She snapped her head around to see her two little brothers staring questioningly down at her, she clenched her teeth together, "Can I help the two of you?"

Kankuro looked very confused, "Yeah, what are you doing?"

"I'm about to kick your ass, if you've finished gawking we can leave."

"Yeah…let's…do that."

The two began to move off, Gaara stayed behind silently to speak with Shikamaru, "What is your opinion of the Akatsuki?"

"They need to be eliminated as soon as possible."

"That does seem to be the favoured option among everyone, the question now is where to start looking?"

"Yes, that is the next question."

Gaara put his hand on his shoulder and spoke lowly, his tone dark, "One more thing, if you ever hurt my sister I will destroy you."

"Ye-Yes sir."

Gaara left the pale Nara to catch up with his siblings, Shikamaru stood completely shaken and fearing for his life. He had forgotten just how scary the Kazekage could get. The Hokage and slapped Shikamaru, "Anyone home Nara?"

"OW!" he rubbed his shoulder and glared at his chuckling father, "Yeah I'm here, what is it?"

"Intense discussion with the Kazekage?"

"You could say that…"

"Please don't start anything, we need everyone on the same side now that the Akatsuki is back. Please don't anger him."

"How troublesome."

* * *

"Get back down here you little bitch."

"Fuck you."

"Get down here."

"Pervert."

"What did you call me?"

Tay began to roll on the ground in laughter as she watched Hidan try to get Elle out from a tree so she would actually train, the worst part for him was she learnt a lot of swear words. And all of them are from listening to him. May and Abi stood over her, laughing but nowhere near as hard.

"I'm going to murder you, you aren't good enough to sacrifice to Jashin."

"Your imaginary friend is stupid."

"Imaginary…? I'LL KILL YOU."

"Dick face."

"Elle-chan is so fast," Tobi gushed from May's side, Elle was jumping form tree to tree insulting Hidan every time he tried to get closer, "Hida-chan will never catch her."

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?"

"Ah nothing, you scare Tobi-kun."

"Hidan fuck face, kiss my ass."

"Little bitch."

"Fucktard."

"How about you just stop the act Tobi," May moved away from the man slightly, she really didn't like or trust him, "We all know that you're the one behind this whole group, you can stop playing the fool now."

"You certainly are a strange woman May-san, strange indeed," he watched her out the corner of his eye, reading her every moment, seeing her every thought, "Tell me something, what gave me away?"

"I understand Japanese, I could understand every word you said."

"And yet you failed to inform me that you could understand Japanese."

"You have still failed to inform me what your plans are with me and my friends. Once we find a mutual ground to stand on, information like that will be shared."

"As you wish May-san," Tobi chuckled, the girl had bite and he knew just how to bite back, "Should we establish this ground now or later?"

"Later will be fine, and Tobi-sama?"

"Yes?"

"I'd duck."

A pair of small feet landed on his shoulders before he could react, the force propelling Elle into him forced him to fall into the ground face first. He couldn't see the high five the four girls shared, or the fact Tay was ogling very blatantly his backside that was now revealed. She wiped away a small amount of drool from the corner of her mouth, "_Sweet merciful of all that is good in the world. I love my life_."

"_Shut up Tay_."

"_You're such fangirl_."

"_I'm embarrassed for you, oh shit,_" Elle took off up into some nearby trees as Hidan came swinging at her once more, "Stupid sterile prick."

"May Jashin burn you and make you suffer for all eternity."

"I fucked Jashin, has tiny penis."

"TOBI," Hidan screamed at the man as he slowly picked himself off the ground, "Go back and bring Itachi here, maybe he can talk some sense into this little shit."

"Hidan-san a pussy."

"NOW!"

Only taking the orders as an excuse to get back and start planning, Tobi saluted and ran off without a second bidding. Tay finally returned to her senses once he left and turned to the still victorious May, "_What do we do now?_"

"_I would assume that getting Hidan away from Elle would be a good start._"

The sound of the girls speaking in English made Hidan forget his little chase and march over to the three who weren't in trees, "I am only going to say this once more, you know Japanese so speak it."

May frowned deeply, all her joy from pushing over Tobi fleeting, "The others still don't know it fully."

"I don't care."

"That not fair," it was Abi's turn to frown at Hidan, "Can't speak well and you mean."

"Deal with it blondey I don't have time to play games with the likes of you."

The comment made her smirk, ideas floating all around her head, "You can't die?"

"What?"

May was very confused but at the same time intrigued, Abi could be quite the schemer when she wanted to be, "She's just asking if it's true that you can't die."

"Yeah it is," Hidan was proud at the fact, it made him smirk victoriously, "No one can kill me, no matter how hard they may try."

The three girls before him shared a small glance, a knowing look shared between them and Tay took an 'innocent' step forwards, "You no feel pain?"

"Yeah I can. What's with all the stupid questions?"

"Oh nothing," Hidan was too distracted by the questions and what they were scheming to realise that May and Abi had pulled out kunai each and walked behind him, "NOW!"

The three attacked and detached Hidan's head from his body. Elle regrouped with her friends as his now limp body fell to the ground, "_What now?_"

"_Well he did mention games_," Abi smirked evilly at the swearing head in her hands; she threw it up in the air and nodded to her friends, "_Let's play_."

* * *

The only thing running through Itachi's mind was the word 'unbelievable', he couldn't believe that Hidan couldn't handle one little girl and that he had to come help him. It was actually quite amusing to him.

"Hih!"

"Kj ikjem ij."

"DON"T YOU FUCKING DARE!"

"ODPE!"

A chorus of happy giggles sounded through the trees as Itachi reached the training grounds. He could hear Hidan's muffled voice underneath the giggles, what the heck was he doing? He pushed back the leaves before him and began to chuckle loudly; the girls had set up a goal post at each end of the training grounds and were currently kicking Hidan's head up and down the grounds, it looked like it was Elle and Tay verses May and Abi. He saw the screaming head fly towards the goal he was beside and side stepped past it, he ignored Hidan screaming at him to help and raised an eyebrow as May ran towards him, "What are you four doing?"

"Playing soccer," May smiled and pointed at the head, "He was being a prick so we used him as a ball."

"What did he do?"

"Insulted our native language and chased Elle around like a crazy man."

"I heard she wasn't training."

"She wasn't."

"Hn."

Elle shuffled nervously, avoiding Itachi's knowing stare, "_May, distract him from being mad at me._"

"_Do it yourself_."

"_Do it or I'll tell him you love Sasuke_."

Just the sound of his brother's name made Itachi frown deeply, "Why are you two talking about my brother?"

"It's nothing Itachi-kun."

Elle smirked and jumped back into the trees, "May love Sasuke, May love Sasuke."

"_Shut up moron_."

Abi and Tay giggled to themselves , suddenly trading in their game of soccer for this new source of entertainment, Itachi's face had gone stone cold, "May-chan…"

"Ah Itachi-kun," May backed away slowly until her back hit a tree, "Please calm down, I did what I had to…"

Abi shrugged, smirking the whole time, "Wasn't his first."

"What do you mean it wasn't his first? You mean Sasuke has kissed others?"

"Yes."

"Who?" the look on Itachi's face made the girls giggle evilly, it wasn't often the man showed expression so they decided to take full advantage of the situation.

"Now, now Itachi-kun, has your younger brother not told you about his…first…kiss?" May made sure to say the last three words very, very slowly.

Itachi grabbed her shoulders and stared her down, "Who was it?"

"What's with the sudden change it attitude?"

"Who was she? Does he still care about her? Is it that Sakura girl?"

"Who said it was a girl?"

"No…"

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"I'm not arguing this."

"You're lying to me."

"So you don't' believe your precious brother kissed a boy?"

"Sasuke's an Uchiha, Uchiha's don't 'swing' that way."

May shrugged off his hands and turned her back to him, "I guess you wouldn't want to know who it was then…"

"May-chan, tell me," Itachi swallowed what appeared to be his pride, "Tell me who it was and I will accept it."

"Okay, Uzumaki Naruto."

"WHAT?"

Itachi turned extremely pale, the girls were laughing so hard Elle fell out of the tree. The only thing that drowned out the joys of the girls and the shock of Itachi was the screams of Hidan, "ATTACH ME BACK TO MY FUCKING BODY ALREADY!"


	15. Chapter 15

**A.N. Okay for whoever reads this I have a super important favour to ask of you, PLEASE DO THE POLL ON MY PROFILE ABOUT PAIRINGS. I will be changing it over to May's pairing really, really soon but I need to know them for future chapters. So if you read this please go vote, you can make up to three choices and it's all up to you. **

**I'm really impatient so I will fully be checking the poll to see who has voted as soon as I can!**

**Love you if you love my story XOXOXOXOX Review and send me ideas :)**

* * *

Itachi woke up to the sounds of crashing, screaming and swearing, all coming from the kitchen. He slowly wandered in to find Hidan slicing at Elle again, for the third day in a row, "Hidan, would you please leave that poor girl alone?"

"Not until she takes it back and converts under the will of Jashin. Otherwise I'm going to fucking chop her head off."

"Come here Elle-chan," Itachi picked the girl up and cradled her, protecting her from Hidan's very violent wrath, "Look Hidan, I don't care what she has said or done but I will not let you harm a single hair on her head. Do you understand me?"

Hidan stared down the Uchiha before putting his weapon back on his back, "You better keep her close by then, if I get her alone she will pay for her crimes."

"Understood."

Elle squirmed slightly in Itachi's hold, she didn't like being protected by anyone, "Put down, don't need help."

"Stop moving."

"Put down now."

"No," he pushed her up over his shoulder as he turned to May and Abi, "Pein-sama wants to see you two immediately about your new mission."

May looked confused, "Just Abi and me? Why aren't the others coming?"

"Because they are very behind their training of both Japanese and ninja training, they need to learn more so you two are going," he turned to leave with a protesting Elle on his shoulder and Tay at his heels, "You two can start with some running through the forest."

"But Itachi-kun…"

"PUT DOWN!"

May sighed deeply and rose from the table, "_Come on Abi, the sooner we get this over with the better._"

"_Okay_," Abi followed her friend out the door and down the hallways, "_What do you reckon the mission is about?_"

"_God knows, with this group it could be just about any damned thing_."

"_Well, at least it keeps things exciting_."

"_Exciting wasn't the word I was thinking of_."

"_What were you thinking of?_"

"_Unpredictable._"

"_That is a version of exciting_."

"_Is there any point in arguing with you_."

"_Not really, you'll never win_."

"_Thought so_."

"Pein-sama, we're here," Abi called and calmly walked into his and Konan's room, she didn't really care if he was busy or not she just wanted to know about the mission, "What did you need us for?"

Pein came out of his private bathroom and stared at the two girls, "Have you never heard of knocking?"

"Knocking? No never. Have you May?"

"It's foreign to me."

"Okay enough games, here is your next mission," Pein walked over and indicated to the girls so they sat on his bed, "You two are going to the Land of Hot Water to help improve our finances with Kakuzu and Hidan. I'm leaving it up to you two to decide how to get the money."

May swallowed back the lump in her throat, why did she have such a bad feeling about this? "How much do we need?"

"Two hund…"

"Two hundred? I guess we can do that."

"Let me finish, two hundred thousand."

"YOU'RE KIDDING RIGHT?"

"I'm dead serious May-chan, we need the money," he pushed them again but this time it was out the door, "Hidan and Kakuzu are already waiting for you two outside, I suggest you start thinking about how you are going to obtain the money."

Abi pushed back against his hand as the doorway drew closer, "They no helping?"

"Nope, just making sure you don't get caught, this land of Yugakure and they have apparently become strong allies with Kumogakure, Shimogakure and unfortunately Konoha so if anything happens there it is bound to be discovered and we're trying to keep a low profile so that would very bad for us. Have fun," and with that final statement he pushed them out the door and shut it. There was no time to ask any more questions, in the Akatsuki things had to move fast.

* * *

"I'M SO BORED," Naruto dropped his head onto Kiba's table as he waited for the mutt to finish getting changed, "I thought girls only took this long to get ready, geez we're only going swimming Kiba."

Kiba growled and came out of his bedroom wearing his swimming trunks and a white shirt, "Shut up I'm ready now, you complain just as much as a girl you know."

"Speaking of girls, which ones are coming to this pond with us?"

"Ah, Ino-chan, Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan and Ten-Ten-san. Basically all of them."

"Ten-ten-san?"

"Yeah, she threw a lot of kunais at me when I called her Teni-chan the other day."

Naruto started laughing as the two walked outside into the blazing summer sun, "Now that's just wrong, you got your ass kicked by a girl."

"Sakura-chan kicks your ass nearly every day."

"That is completely different."

"How so?"

"I'm annoying."

"Don't have to tell me twice."

"HEY!"

Kiba started running down the road laughing at the top of his lungs, he didn't want to admit it but he was extremely excited. This would be the first time since the first Chunin exams where everyone, the rookie nine and Team Gai, would be together, only they wouldn't be fighting…okay maybe there would be fighting. Either way, this was a true sign that the war was over and that nothing was going to ruin the peace they had all fought so hard to achieve. He was just hoping that Sasuke didn't screw it up this time.

* * *

Shikamaru was very confused, and slightly worried, when he saw all of his friends leaving the village with the damned Uchiha leading the way. He knew he never should have even thought of trusting Sasuke again, not after all the trouble the bastard had caused. He was about to storm away from his position beside the Hokage when Ino ran up to him, "Hey you're back, we're all going swimming you wanna come?"

"Who authorised this?" Tsunade folded her arms and stared down the large group before her, "You can't just pack up and leave the village whenever you want to. Now let me guess, this was Naruto's idea."

Naruto laughed loudly and nodded, "Yeah, it's too hot in the village and Hinata-chan said she knows the perfect little pond just a few miles from the village. Please can we go Baa-chan?"

"Hmmmmm," Tsunade looked over the group, she could trust nearly all of these ninja to come back, "I guess there is not a lot of harm in it, only Team Kakashi has a mission to go on so you three can't go."

"Aw, please?"

"Back in the village, the rest of you enjoy your swim."

"Yes Hokage-sama," the group chorused like a class of young children talking to their teacher. She waved the group and an unsure Shikamaru off and headed back into the village to get back to procrastinating actually doing her dreaded paperwork. The group wasn't silent as they travelled to the pond to cool off, but they weren't exactly talking to each other, they shared a small murmur between friends on the topic of Shikamaru's accusation against Sasuke. Everyone was waiting to see if he would swallow his pride and finally apologize for it. As everyone expected, Shikamaru glared at anyone who he heard speaking of it...

* * *

Itachi sighed as he watched the two girls spar, or at least their take on it. Elle and Tay were currently locked in a deadly battle of wits and strength; Rock, Paper, Scissors. He told them he wanted to see their progress and they ended up running in a circle and then started their little game, he was not amused, "Will you two please take this more seriously?"

"Am serious."

"Deadly."

"No you're not, you're just fooling around," he walked over and gave them a light push, as expected they fell down effortlessly, "You will be killed if you can't defend yourselves and I can't help you unless you're willing to train. I won't always be around to defend you; you can't rely too much on May and Abi either, they have their own lives to worry about, you need to start looking after yourselves."

Elle frowned, as expected, but then she tilted her head in confusion, "What?"

"Did I speak too fast?"

"Ya…"

"Why don't I believe you?"

"What?" Tay smirked and cupped her ear, "Too fast."

"You two both understand every word I am saying, I'm not stupid," he smiled even though he was upset, they were acting like a couple of five year olds, "_Get up and start running_."

That gave them a hell of a fright, Elle jumped up and pointed an accusing finger at him, "_When the hell did you learn to speak English?_"

"_I made May teach me so I could understand anything you were trying to hide_."

"_But…_" Tay frowned sadly as she stood up, "_We still don't know Japanese that well and you can speak perfect English? That is so not fair Itachi_."

"_Start running you tw…_" he froze in the middle of his sentence, someone… no, a lot of people were coming this way. This was going to be a perfect opportunity to teach the two girls that they should listen to him. He grabbed each of their hands and pulled them towards the oncoming crowd, it looked like they were going to the large pond just through the trees, and he waited in the foliage until the very last minute, "Have fun."

The two landed in the cool pond and screamed; the water was very, _very_ cold. They climbed out immediately and removed their suddenly heavy cloaks; Elle grabbed the two of them and chucked it in Itachi's direction in an attempt to hit him. Tay started laughing and called out, "Hope that hit."

"Hope what hit?" an unknown yet somehow familiar voice called through the trees, his voice made the girls freeze, "Who's there?"

Tay screamed silently but quickly regained her composure, "_Oh shit._"

"_What?"_

A head of messy brown hair poked through the green leaves followed by a range of different familiar faces, "Hey there, I'm Inuzuka Kiba."

* * *

"Hurry the fuck up already," Hidan kept marching down the road well in front of the horribly confused girls and Kakuzu, "We won't get anywhere at this fucking pace."

"Shut up useless."

"What did you say?"

"Shut up," Kakuzu ignored the ramblings from his so called teammate and turned back to the girls, "So do you have any idea as to how you are going to get all of this money?"

May shook her head, "I have no idea, and we can't just steal it."

"Why not?"

"Ah, because it's immoral and wrong."

"You're an Akatsuki member, you're already a criminal so what's stealing from a few poor saps?"

"We are only here because we have no other choice," Abi really disliked these men but nowhere near as much as she disliked the thought of stealing from or hurting others for something as pathetic as money, "Don't think we want to do it."

"Suck it up, what is more important the life of others or money?"

"Others' lives."

"Yeah Abi's right, people living is a lot more important than money."

Kakuzu snorted back his laughter, "You two will learn to subdue your emotions and do what is needed."

"And you do that so well already."

"Money whore."

"Well this is your problem then, you have a month at the most to get the money," Kakuzu continued forwards, his eyes always watching the glaring girls, "And you can't rely on us for help, we'll be watching to make sure you don't get caught but other than that you are on your own."

* * *

Tay forced a smile; they were in so much trouble, "Hey. What you doing here?"

"We're going for a swim in the pond, looks like we all had the same idea," Kiba smiled brightly and indicated to his friends with his head, "We're from Konoha, what about you two?"

"We're from Ishigakure," Elle smiled and said the very first things that came to your mind, "I'm Rukia and this is….Myrtle. How do you do Kiba-kun?"

"I'm fine thanks, so you must've come a far distance if you're from Ishigakure. Why such the long trip?"

Tay quickly jumped and started waving her hands rapidly, "On a mission, should really go now."

"Ah don't let us stop you," Hinata, as apologetic for no reason as always, ran forwards and grabbed Tay's retreating arm, "There's enough room for everyone to swim in."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," Elle was beginning to wish that she had actually been paying more attention to May when they were learning Japanese, "Should really go…."

Shikamaru looked closely at the girls; there was something…off…about them, "So Ishigakure, what sort of mission would you have in the Land of Fire then?"

"Ah, that's classified…"

"We're ninja of Konoha; surely you can share with us."

"No, no, it's classified."

"But if it is in our country don't you think we have a right to know?"

"Ah…" Elle was really starting to panic, why did he have to be here of all people? "Well…ah…we…" Elle looked to Tay, Tay shrugged and gestured for her to finish her sentence, and Elle looked at the ground and forced tears to her eyes, "You're so mean…"

"SHIKAMARU!" Ino hit her teammate thinking that he had generally upset this seemingly shy girl, "Apologize right now."

Tay shook her head quickly, "It okay, _we need to get out of here right now_."

"There," Shikamaru pushed Ino away and pointed accusingly at the two who were trying to run off, "I knew that there was something off about you two."

Lee pushed his way through the crowd to get a good view of the might-be fight, "What is off about them?"

"Temari-san mentioned it to me while we were at the Gokage meeting; Akatsuki invaded their village in the form of four teenaged girls. It's now obvious that these two are nothing more than Akatsuki members."

"That is a bit extreme is it not?"

"I'm sure of it Lee, these two are Akatsuki."

"_Tay?_" Elle backed away slowly from the glaring Nara, "_We should run, like right now_."

"_Agreed_."

Elle cleared her throat and shook her head quickly, "You're rude, goodbye Konoha ninja."

"Stop!"

The two ran off despite the calls of Shikamaru, luckily his friends held him back from chasing them back into the forest. The girls ran all the way back to the Akatsuki house and immediately ran into the empty living room. They shared a small moment of silence before laughing hysterically. Tay grabbed her sides at the pain from laughter set in, "_That was so fucking close_."

"_I cannot believe we actually got away, I forgot that Shikamaru was so smart_," Elle looked briefly around the room and then smirked happily, "_Want to hide in the roof until it's time for dinner?_"

"_I'll grab the snacks and meet you up there_."


	16. Chapter 16

May sighed deeply and rested her head against the warm stone of the local hot springs, "_How are we going to do this Abi?_"

"_I don't know,_" Abi sighed too and sunk lower into the steaming water, "_You can't just magic up two hundred thousand dollars._"

"_It's Ryo here_."

"_Right, well how do you make money here? We've only got a few weeks to do it._"

"_Well…_" May swam over to join her worried friend, "_You could always paint something and we could sell it_."

"_Is that the best you've got? I expected more_."

"_Come on Abi you're an amazing artist, we could sell them for something._"

"_I guess…_"

"_So should we get started_?"

Abi nodded and rose from the hot springs, "_The clock is ticking after all_."

* * *

Kakuzu grumbled as he watched the girls set up an easel and paints outside the inn, "What are they planning now?"

"Who gives a fuck?"

"We're supposed to."

"Well screw them," Hidan polished his scythe slowly, he was just as upset about this as Kakuzu, "I don't even want to be doing this, I should be spreading the grand word of Jashin not babysitting or being ordered around like a little bitch."

Kakuzu began to chuckle softly to himself, this only agitated Hidan further, "What the hell is so funny?"

"You want out of the Akatsuki too."

"And what if I do?"

"I think that's everyone now."

"What are you talking about?"

"The Akatsuki," Kakuzu motioned casually in the air, a mutual feeling of trust being shared between the two S ranked criminals, "No one wants to be a part of it anymore. Deidara wants to get back to his old village and continue to make his so called art. Sasori wants to go back to Suna and talk with the Kazekage's brother about his puppet welding skills; he thinks he has found a worthy student. Konan and Pein want to go off and raise a family together; Itachi wants to get back to his broken little brother. Kisame wants to be the next Mizukage so he's going to try butter the current one up. I think I could run a successful, inclusive, business now that all of this war nonsense is over and now I find out that you want to follow your imaginary Jashin. And we all know, no matter how he acts, who is keeping us trapped in this dead end collaboration."

"Tobi," Hidan snarled at the man who was stopping everyone from living their own lives, "So how the fuck do you suggest we get out?"

"Pein-sama already has the answer."

"What? It's not the little bitches is it?"

Kakuzu smirked to himself and looked out the window at the duo creating art.

"We are so fucking screwed."

"I don't know the full details of his plan but I know that we have to look after each of the four girls and make sure no harm comes to them or yes we are screwed."

"I hate them."

"They hate you and Hidan…"

"What?"

"I hate you too."

* * *

Tobi sat quietly in his private room, contemplating the next step to take. By the end of the month the Akatsuki will have funding, four new members training, and be readying themselves to fight the five great villages. He was listening at the latest meeting so he knew that the Gokage had finalised the idea of joining the five villages and creating one united shinobi village in the grounds where Otogakure once stood. They were going to finally unite everyone under one roof…Tobi had to stop that. He heard a small clash from the kitchen and went in to investigate, it was Elle, and she was up in the cupboards looking for something, "Hello Elle-chan!"

Elle squeaked and fell to the floor; she landed on her feet at the last minute indicating that she was improving, "Tobi-kun you scared me."

"Sorry, sorry, hey you can speak better now."

She nodded and looked at her feet, "Itachi-kun has made Tay and I learn faster, he…ah…says we're behind."

"Ita-chan is silly, you should play with Tobi!" Tobi jumped up and ran over to the girl; this one seemed to be a small problem with some of the members. He noticed Pein, Konan, Itachi and even Kisame at times watching this one carefully, as though they were scared she was going to run off. Tobi didn't have a problem with this; if she wanted to leave he would kill her and be done with it, but the way those three were trying to keep her here was almost unsettling.

"Does Tobi-kun want to help me make cookies?"

"YAY cookies with Elle-chan."

"What kind?"

"Chocolate chip!"

"Okay."

Elle climbed back up to the cupboards and successfully brought down a bag of flour this time. Tobi had to figure out why this girl was so important to them; he needed to know if she has to die.

* * *

"I'm very serious about this Tsunade-sama, the Akatsuki is back," Shikamaru held his ground even as the stare of the Hokage bore down on him, "I'm not sure that moving the villages is a good idea until they have been dealt with."

Tsunade sighed and shook her head slowly, "I value your strategies and that wondrous lazy brain of yours like you won't believe Shikamaru, in fact it kept a lot of us alive during the war, but the thing is though I can't stop all preparations because you have an inkling that the Akatsuki could be re-forming."

"I'm not the only one, the Kazekage and his siblings have witnessed first-hand that the Akatsuki is back."

"I know and he also said that we should continue with forming the untied village, he knows where priorities lie."

"Still," Shikamaru looked out at the busy village of Konoha; everyone was busy packing away their items while others were already leaving for the new home. Konoha and Suna were going to be building the village together and once it was complete the other three would move in too, and since Konoha had slightly more A.D.D. ninja they were going to have to get there first. Shikamaru turned his back and waved absently to his superior, "I'll get back to packing then; my family is due for leaving this afternoon."

He continued his way through the mansion; this was the last time he was ever going to walk these halls even though the plan was to make a complete replica of it in the new village but it just wouldn't be the same. This was his home, he was giving it up for peace, and hopefully he could come back someday.

"Oi Shikamaru!" a gruff voice yelled at him, he knew who it was and he really didn't want to face them right now, "Wait up."

"What do you want _Uchiha_?"

"I want to know everything you know about this new Akatsuki."

Shikamaru waited form the other boy and raised an eyebrow, "What makes you think I know?"

"Everyone knows you've been talking about it."

"Fine, what do you want to know?"

"Everything."

"You're serious; you must really not know a thing about them."

"Of course, I gave all that up during the war after…"

"After what?"

"Nothing, what do you know?"

* * *

"_Elle I need your help_," Tay ran into the kitchen, ignoring the fact that Tobi was staring intently into the oven, and grabbed her friend by the shoulders, "_Deidara is after me and I need to hide_."

Elle took a step back, "_What did you do?_"

"_Rigged all his clay to explode_."

"_I didn't hear anything…_"

A loud explosion echoed through the house, followed closely by the smell of suffocating smoke and the heat from a blazing fire.

"…_you fucking moron._"

"_Shut up Elle_."

"_THIS IS A WOODEN HOUSE_."

"…"

"…"

"_So?_"

"_I'm gonna beat the stupid out of you_," Elle grabbed a nearby knife and chased Tay all the way outside. Tay protested loudly to her being stabbed as the rest of the members ran to join them, all glaring at Deidara.

Deidara walked over to Tay and grabbed her by her collar, "What the hell did you just do?"

"I don't know."

"Don't lie to me you little shit."

"DEIDARA," Pein growled the name through his clenched teeth and pointed at the burning building, "Explain now."

"It was Tay she rigged my clay to explode un…"

Elle ran forwards and tugged softly on Pein's cloak, dropping the knife into some nearby bushes, "Pein-sama, Tay-chan was baking cookies with me and Tobi-kun, and so she can't have done that."

"I see," he turned slowly towards Deidara, "Fix this."

"But…"

"Fix it now Deidara."

"Yes Pein-sama," Deidara slowly walked past glaring quietly at Elle, "I hate you un."

Pein turned to the two smirking girls and indicated for Itachi and Kisame to move closer, "You two are a couple schemers. Itachi, Kisame, take these girls to the site of the now abandoned Otogakure, I've heard rumours that the five villages are planning to build there and I want you to keep an eye on them. You're taking the girls because I need some space to breathe."

"Yes Pein-sama."

"We'll leave immediately."

* * *

"What do you know; they're actually uniting the villages."

The four Akatsuki members hid in some of the high trees, out of sight of the busy Konoha natives and completely out of everyone's mind. Kisame leaned against his tree's trunk and chuckled to himself, "Your otouto is down there you know."

"Kisame," Itachi hissed slightly, his eyes were filling slowly with regret, "Our mission right now is to observe."

"If we merely _observe_ we're bound to get caught sooner or later."

"We're here to watch."

Kisame turned his head towards Tay, "Would you tell him to go down there?"

"Itachi-kun," Tay jumped to the branch above Itachi and peered down at the older Uchiha, "Why won't you?"

"Tay-chan, you don't have to do everything Kisame tells you to."

"What's stopping you?" Elle jumped over to join the currently conflicting duo, "Don't you want to see Sasuke-kun?"

"…"

"_You're being silly_."

"_Enough Elle._"

"_More Elle, Itachi needs to see Sasuke or he's going to keep sulking about nothing_."

"_You are just as bad_."

Kisame frowned deeply; he didn't speak nor understand any English, "Hey, are you going down or not?"

"Not today," Itachi turned away from the busy workers and looked through the winding trees, "I will someday but not today." He jumped down the forest path and walked off by himself.

Tay sat on her branch and frowned after him, "What his problem?"

"Tobi."

"Tobi; amazing, sexy, funny, gorgeous, my God…"

"_Shut up Tay_."

"You're kidding right?" Kisame cringed and jumped over to the girls' tree, "Tobi is the worst kind of person. He will use you for all you are worth and then get rid you of." He slide his hand across throat to emphasise his point, "Because of him Itachi is stuck in the same place he has always hated being in, he has to watch his younger brother from the distance and never actually interact with him. He may not show it but on the inside Itachi wants nothing more than to hug Sasuke and never let him go again."

Elle looked thoughtfully at Tay, "I bet Sasuke-kun would love to know."

"Yeah," Tay smirked and jerked her head, "Bet Sasuke-kun would do anything to know…"

Kisame watched carefully as the two girls began to giggle before running off after Itachi. He chuckled to himself and looked back to the workers, spotting the young Uchiha helping some very cautious Konoha villagers, "Whatever those girls are planning, and if they get caught I'm not going to save them. I think I'll leave that to Itachi."

* * *

The sounds of work and chatter died down slowly as the sun began to set for the day. Naruto sighed happily and flopped beside the fire his Sensei had set up for the night, "Are we really going to be doing this every day? I like making things."

Neji chocked softly on his drink of green tea, "Every building you tried to help build for some strange reason fell over whenever the wind blew on it."

"Well…Teme was working on those too."

"I was catching everything that fell after the building collapsed," Sasuke smirked and finished setting up the tent he was going to share with Naruto, "Don't try to pin it on me."

"I can't believe I'm going to say this," Shikamaru looked like he was in intense pain as he nodded in agreement, "But Sasuke actually saved most of the buildings you tried to fix."

"Now that is just wrong."

The four boys shared a quiet, awkward laugh, none were really sure how to continue the conversation but all were slightly happy that they could converse without fighting. Eventually Neji turned to the subject they were all thinking of, "Who do you think would be in the new Akatsuki?"

"We know for certain the four girls, May, Abi, Tay and Elle, as well as Hidan and Zetsu. Then there is the one or two behind it all, but I can't possibly think of anyone who would willingly join the Akatsuki let alone going through so much effort to reform it."

Sasuke sat down and began heating up some of the instant Ramen Naruto had brought along, "You think our best guess for finding out whose behind this whole thing would be finding one of the girls?"

"From what I've been told they don't seem to be incredibly skilled ninja, in fact quite amateur, so I believe that we would get some sort of answer out of any one of them. But then again it has been nearly a month since their last sighting and they've got nowhere to go but up. The next thing would be where could they be hiding?"

"How do you know those girls aren't being forced?" Naruto was always one trying to see the best in people, "Maybe they never wanted to fool Gaara and them. I bet he doesn't think that they intentionally wanted to do it."

"Maybe, but even so, they are today's enemy…"

"They could be tomorrows ally," Neji smirked and indicated towards Naruto and Sasuke's tent, "By the way, I think someone is fluffing around in your tent."

Naruto dived in and completely collapsed the tent, there were several curses and struggles before the other three boys decided to help untangle the knucklehead from the mass of material he got himself trapped in. It took a while but they managed to get the panting blonde out, Naruto held up a small envelope once out, "Sasuke got a love letter."

"Probably from Ino or someone," Shikamaru sat down defeated, of course it wouldn't be so easy, "So, are you going to open it or not?"

He was already half way through reading the letter, his eyes were wider and skin paler than usual. Naruto was about to ask him but he took off through the surrounding forests, he needed to find the person behind this letter, he had to find out….

* * *

Tay began to giggle hysterically as she caught up to Kisame and Itachi, "Wait up."

"Where the heck have you two been?" Itachi was generally concerned, one moment they're in the tress and the next they've disappeared, "You can't keep running off…"

"We were giving Sasuke-kun letter," Elle giggled and caught up to the other three, "Don't worry, we didn't get caught. Tay and I saw how you missed him and so we got Kisame-san to write him a letter for us…and you."

"What kind of letter?" Itachi began to storm forwards; Kisame took a worried step back, "If you did anything that risks your safety…"

The two girls jumped up and hugged the worried Uchiha, as Elle snuggled into his chest Tay smirked up at him, "We wrote that you love him and one day you will be a family again."

Kisame began laughing to himself as Itachi returned the girls' hugs with all his might; he was nothing more than a big teddy bear with a stony outside. Once the stone was chipped away you could see him for what he truly was.


	17. Chapter 17

**A.N. Heyoh people, just wanting to let you all know the poll for Elle's pairing is going to be closed by the time I upload the next chapter because I'm super impatient. May's paring is going to be the next poll so please vote!**

**P.S. I don't care if you don't vote or how little people want to vote just don't complain if you don't like the pairing because you didn't vote so XP!**

* * *

Two Akatsuki members watched carefully as May and Abi crossed through the busy village to the Feudal Lords mansion, the girls were posing as traders selling art to the Feudal Lord. So far they haven't had any trouble getting in, after all who is going to stop two innocent looking, and pretty, teenaged girls selling artwork.

"This had better fucking work; they spent nearly the whole four weeks painting," Hidan frowned and pulled out his scythe, "Otherwise I'm going to have to go in and get the money myself."

Kakuzu pushed the weapon back down, "Abi's artwork is impressive, they'll make the money. This Feudal Lord has a particular interest in artwork; he will pay out a reasonable sum to them. Even if he doesn't pay enough Abi-chan can always sell the other two works with her and that should make up the even."

"He better."

* * *

"_How do you reckon Sasuke took the letter?_" Tay was swinging her legs gently as she watched the Konoha natives continue work on what used to be Otogakure, they were expanding the territory so there would be enough room for all five villages to fit, "_Nothing dramatic has happened yet..._"

"_If he's anything like Itachi then I doubt we'll see any reaction at all._"

She leaned forwards more as new villagers arrived, "_I still would have liked to see something dramatic happen_."

Elle began to giggle softly and sat beside her friend, "_Like what? Did you want him to run around the forest calling 'Itachi? Where is my onii-san?' and then he'd, I don't know, fall of a cliff or something and Itachi would have to save him, then there is some huge brotherly reunion and yada, yada, yada…_"

"_Well don't you think it would be nice, I mean we may not be able to see our families again but at least we can help bring this one beck together._"

"_Who says that we won't be able to see our families again?_"

"_Elle…_"

"_What?_"

Tay put her arm around Elle's shoulder, she hated being the one who had to do this, "_We're not going home, ever. The other two, and I, have all accepted this and we have all decided on trying to make the most out of this situation, now we just have to get you to realise this._"

"_That means you three haven't realised we can't go home, it means you've all given up on going home_."

Her arm was removed, she tried to catch Elle's hand but the small girl had grown extremely fast on her feet as training continued. Tay watched as the small girl ran off, she sighed and rubbed the back of her tired head, "Elle…"

"Hey…" an unknown voice whispered from Tay's side, she turned her head in rapid surprise and stared at the new person before her. Blonde hair stood out brightly against the orange and black trade mark jumpsuit, he crouched on the branch beside her and cupped his hand so he could talk quietly but she could still hear him, "Did you two have a fight?"

"N-Naruto-kun?"

* * *

"Exquisite, simply divine," the Feudal Lord gushed over the three paintings the two foreign girls had brought him. Splashed with vibrant colours, each were completely individual yet somehow they seemed incomplete without each other, the artworks was extraordinary, unlike anything he had ever seen before, "How much for them all?"

The girl with short blonde hair looked astounded, the tiniest of blushes crossing her face, "You want them all?"

"Indeed, these pieces are so unique and yet they fit with each other perfectly. Where on Earth did you find them?"

"A young painter from our village," the tall girl smiled happily, she looked somewhat proud, she must've known the painter, "She is indeed an amazing artist but doesn't like to admit it."

"Such a shame, the pieces are so…so…"

"Modern?"

"Yes modern, completely outstanding," he put them in a line and looked them over once more, yes he must have them, "So how much are we talking about girls, I will tell you now that no price is too great."

The two conversed silently with each other in their native tongue, obviously arguing about how much to set. Eventually he called over his high treasurer and sent him away to get the money, "Girls, please don't bicker anymore." The two stared curiously at him as he smiled, "I will be taking these pieces and you will be receiving a hundred thousand yen for each piece."

"But that's three hundred thousand!" the blonde girl began blushing dramatically, he now knew that she was the artist behind it all, "That….that's just…..way too much."

"No arguing now my dear, I have already sent away for the money and I've taken away your paintings. I don't mean to be rude but after you receive your money would you please leave, I have a rather important meeting in about five minutes and I must set up my new artwork before my guests arrive."

"Yes sir."

"As you wish my lord."

* * *

The young Akatsuki girl was sulking to herself by the large oak tree they had chosen to stay at, Kisame had found it quite amusing, "Hey Itachi, do you think it's her time of the month?"

"I really wouldn't know and I don't want to."

"Well then what do you reckon her problem is, she seemed as bouncy as Tay-chan this morning and now," he indicated to the small hole in the palm of his hand he received after trying to tickle the answer out of her, "I don't think this is a good thing."

Itachi nodded and slumped down beside the dying fire, "I thought we were finally making some progress with her, I don't want to start from the beginning again."

"What do you mean?"

"She wants to go home."

"Then let her, then she'll have peace of mind and we can't get back on track with everything."

"It's not that easy."

"Explain."

"Her home is back in that other world we were in, Pein-sama brought the four of them back to help get rid of Tobi. Now the problem is that there is no possible way to get them back home, they're stuck here for the rest of their lives."

"Oh dear."

"You know," a small voice that sounded on the verge of tears spoke up, the sulking body rose from her spot by the tree to glare at the two men, "My Japanese is a lot better now and so I heard every word you said."

"Elle-chan…"

"Leave me alone, jerks," she ran off before the two could say another word.

Kisame smirked and pointed at the directions he ran in, "On the plus side she's gotten quite fast, you must be proud."

"Proud and worried Kisame, even if the two don't go together."

* * *

"Tay-chan…Tay-chan…TAY-CHAN," Naruto finally clapped his hand over the girl's mouth to stop her from ranting confusingly about why she was there; "If you don't be quiet someone is going to hear you."

Tay nodded her eyes wide with panic. He could have killed her, or signalled to his friends and she could have been caught so why is he just looking at her? She pushed his hand away slowly, "You're…not…fighting me?"

"Why would I fight you?"

"Because we're enemies?"

"Since when?" he generally looked confused about her question, he leaned against the trunk and retied his loose headband, "I got sent away while everyone was building and headed this way, I heard you and Elle-chan talking and I decided to say hello. We never really got to talk in Suna."

"You aren't mad that we tricked you all and set Zetsu free?"

"Your Japanese is a lot better."

"Thanks. Are you going to answer my question?"

"Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure if you didn't someone would have eventually. Shikamaru already knows about the new Akatsuki group."

"He does?"

"Yeah, he's smart like that," Naruto swung around and looked over his shoulder as some of the nearby bushes rustled threateningly, "I should head back soon but I wanna know a few things first, if you don't mind."

"Okay."

"It's three things really; firstly I just want to know if you guys were like…you know…forced into the Akatsuki?"

"YES!" Tay squeaked happily, she could have kissed Naruto at this point had she not have any dignity, "Yes, we don't really want to be here but then again neither do most of the members. Everyone is kinda being trapped under the one guy," she figured if he already knew all the members were alive again she wouldn't have to say any names.

"Really? Also, did you know about the, your, mission thing in Suna?"

"We only found out the same day we left, none of us really wanted to go."

"I knew it! And finally if you don't really mean us any harm we could help you get out."

"That's not really a question but we can't leave, if we do…bad things would happen."

"Okay, oh yeah, do you know anything about Sasuke's letter?"

"Sasuke-kun?" Tay smiled to herself, Kisame had written it in Japanese for them so she didn't know exactly what the words were but she knew what it was about, "He got a letter?"

"Yeah but never mind, I should get going," he jumped down and waved from the bottom of the tree, "I won't tell anyone about this I promise."

"Thank you Naruto-kun."

"No worries Tay-chan."

* * *

Re-construction of the Akatsuki hideout was coming together nicely, they would be completely finished by the end of tomorrow and everything looked like it was falling into place. Tobi smiled to himself, he knew that everyone wanted to leave and he satisfaction in knowing that the reason they all stayed was because they feared him. He, Uchiha Tobi, struck fear into the hearts of some of the most feared and powerful shinobi ever to live, they were at his beck and call. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself, everything was just the way he wanted it…

"Oi Pein-sama, we want a word un."

"What is it Deidara, Sasori?"

"We want to know about this plan of yours."

"We've heard you talking to Konan-san and Itachi-kun about it un."

Tobi's ears picked this up, he vanished and went to a different spot where he could see and hear better, hiding his chakra signal completely in the process, what was this plan and why wasn't he informed?

"Where is Tobi?"

Sasori concentrated for a moment before looking back at the pierced man, "I can't find his chakra signal anywhere."

"Fine, you needed to find out sooner or later. We are going to destroy him, and free ourselves from his tyranny once and for all."

"How are we going to do this un?"

"Not we exactly, have you been teaching the girls about complete chakra control and fighting in unity?"

"Yeah un."

"That's what we were ordered to do."

"Good," Pein moved closer and lowered his tone, however Tobi could hear every word he said, "I've had Itachi-san has been teaching them a special Jutsu I created that will be used against Tobi, it will null his chakra to the point where he is unable to use it in a period from thirty seconds to two minutes. This is all the time that we will need t destroy him once and for all."

Deidara stood back and smirked, "You sound so sure of their abilities, what if one of them cannot perform the Jutsu un?"

"Then it will not work, all four are need for the Jutsu to work."

That was all he needed to confirm his suspicions, they were planning to eliminate him using the girls and the reason why they seemed most concerned about Elle's lack of interest was because they needed all of the girls for it to work. He was going to have to fix that. No one was going to ruin his plans this time, especially four stupid teenaged _girls_. Tobi frowned in thought, right now they were in two different areas but one of the groups should be coming back tomorrow. He transported to the surrounding area, he scoped it out carefully. One of the girls would have to have an _accident_ once they returned, one that they will never recover from if he has his way.


	18. Chapter 18

**A.N. New poll is up now for May, pick her paring (or non-pairing) and let's see who she ends up with. Thanks to those who voted for Elle's pairing the winner is...not telling because that would be spoiling the surprise. :)**

**Vote and review now people ;)  
**

* * *

A tired Uchiha finished clearing the entire area of their camping sight and gave one final look back at where the new united village was going to stand; Sasuke was just through those trees and once more he was unable to see his brother even though they were so close. He continued to stare; he could go and see him right now…a small hand tugged on the back of his cloak, "We're leaving Itachi-kun."

"Right," he turned back painfully, he moved at the same pace as her as they left, "How are you feeling today Elle-chan?"

"I'm fine, why do you ask?"

"The past few days, you haven't spoken a word to Tay-chan ever since you came back. You two wouldn't happen to be fighting would you?"

"I refuse to speak to someone who has given up, she has."

"Given up on what exactly?"

"You wouldn't understand," she looked up carefully at him; she seemed so much wiser when she was serious, "You've practically given up too."

"Elle-chan?" she ran off to catch up to Kisame, she climbed on his back and he just laughed softly. Tay began to walk next to Itachi, she didn't seem herself either, "You don't like fighting with her do you Tay-chan?"

Tay shook her head and looked at her feet, "She's not accepting the fact we can't go home…she…ah…stubborn."

"I thought we fixed your Japanese."

"It's hard okay."

"Of course it is," he pushed her forwards and the pace began to pick up, "The hideout should be complete by now, let's go back and try to sort this out."

"Thank you, onii-san."

Itachi smiled softly to himself, onii-san, he liked the sound of that.

* * *

"_I told you Abi, we just can't tell those two about the rest of the money._"

"_What are we going to do with the money you pocketed?_"

"_Don't look at me like that; Pein-sama said they only needed two hundred thousand so we can have the extra hundred thousand._"

Hidan growled deep in the back of his throat, "I thought I said you aren't allowed to speak that shit whenever you're fucking around me."

"That 'shit' is our native language," May glared at him scornfully, this just increased her happiness about the extra money he was never going to see, "And so we'll speak it whenever we damn well please."

"Not around me you won't."

"_Die wanker_."

"What did I just say?"

"We don't care," Abi stuck her tongue out at him and turned to Kakuzu, "How much longer is it going to take to get back to the hideout?"

He snorted as he re-counted the money for the fifth time, "As much time as it will take, why do you want to get back so badly?"

"I feel…off…"

"You feel sick?"

"Not sick, just…off."

May looked cautiously at Abi, whenever Abi felt off there was always a serious reason behind it, "_How long…_"

"FUCKING JAPANESE."

"Fine, how long have you been feeling this way?"

"It started yesterday," Abi rubbed her arms like a sudden cold wind washed over her, "I can't exactly pin as to when I felt it but the feeling has grown and I can really feel it now."

"This isn't good."

"Oh Jashin," Hidan turned and grabbed Abi by the scruff of her cloak, "Shut up, no one cares about how you feel."

"Don't touch me."

"Or what?"

"Raiton: Raikou Oonami," electricity roared through the ground as May slammed her palm onto the road, she glared happily as it connected with Hidan's feet, "If you try to hurt one of my friends I will hurt you."

Hidan cringed in pain as the lightning ran through them; he fell to the road as his legs went numb. The rest of the group continued on as if the scene never really happened, "So whenever Abi-chan gets this off feeling something bad happens?"

"Yeah, every time I've heard her say it something seriously bad always happened," May put her arm around the worried girl's shoulder, "I just hope it doesn't involve any of the others."

"That would be a nuisance; losing one of you would certainly be upsetting."

Abi looked carefully at him, "Do you care about us Kakuzu-san?"

"Not in your dreams kid."

"DON'T YOU FUCKING LEAVE ME HERE, GET BACK HERE AND HELP ME UP YOU BITCHES!"

* * *

Preparations were complete, the moment the girl stepped through the barrier he set up he would find and end her. The group couldn't be too far off; it was becoming dark which actually helped with his plan so he wasn't complaining.

Tobi turned suddenly when he felt a tingle run down his right arm, they were here and he needed to separate them immediately. It shouldn't be too hard, after all she is a naïve teen and what could be harder than getting her to run off. Itachi and Kisame could be a problem but Tobi could deal with them easily. They fear him; they fear the powers that he hasn't revealed to them yet, they would do anything he told them to.

He headed towards the southern barrier by the waterfall that would be most convenient for disposing of the body and if it floats far enough and lands at the new village then that would just help convince the girls to do what he wants instead of what they call 'right'.

* * *

Tay looked from the ground to the back of Elle's head multiple times; when that girl wants to hold a grudge she _will_ hold a grudge. She didn't know how to approach the situation so she decided to just do it head on, "_Elle please talk to me_."

"_Not until you admit that you've given up_."

"_I haven't given up, I've realised facts. We can't ever go back, face it._"

"_I will not because it's not true_," Elle turned around and stopped walking altogether, "_I won't give up, I'm going to go home one day with or without your help_."

"Enough you two," Itachi stopped walking as well; he had been translating the entire conversation to Kisame from the moment Tay spoke up, "Let's just get back to the hideout already so we can sort this out."

"No," Elle pointed accusingly at Tay, Tay was biting her tongue to stop the angry comments from slipping off out of her mouth, "She's given up, I won't, the only thing that will make this better would be if she finally realises that she's wrong."

Tay turned on herself and ran into the forest, Kisame sighed, "Now look what happened, are you going to go after her Elle-chan?"

"Why do I have to?"

"She won't listen to us and you know this, just apologize for now."

"Okay," Elle sighed slightly and ran after Tay, "I'll bring her back no sweat, don't wait up."

Itachi smiled softly as the girl ran off, "They'll be fine, let's get back and report to Pein-sama."

"Right, I wonder if the others are back yet."

* * *

Tay stormed past the many trees, anger coursing thickly through her veins. She was so frustrated that Elle was refusing to see the truth, she couldn't understand how Elle was still believing that she could go home even after all the facts had been laid before her.

"TAY!"

And now Elle was chasing her, at least it showed she cared…kind of.

"TAY WHERE ARE YOU?"

Tay ignored her and kept moving, she needed to calm down or else she was going to do, or say, something she would regret completely. Elle wasn't that far away and it was getting too dark to be stuck out in the forest. She turned slowly and began to head towards the sound of Elle, unexpectedly she ran into another cloak, "Sorry."

"Tay-chan," the voice was dark and sadistic, "Welcome home."

"Tobi-sama? What are you…?"

"Shhhh," he pressed his fingertips against her cooling lips and removed his mask slowly, "I was about to ask you the same thing. It's getting dark, you could get lost."

Tay began to blush as his face was revealed to her, he looked so young, he really looked like a younger version of Uchiha Madara and just looking at him was making her heart flutter, "I was angry so I went for a walk."

"You should go back, it could be dangerous."

"You're here."

"That's right, I'm here," he chuckled slightly and leaned on his forearm as he placed it above her head, she was staring at him and he knew she would do anything he wanted her to, "I want you to do me a small favour Tay-chan."

"I don't know, like you said I should go back…"

He leaned in more and cut off her sentence with his lips, he felt her shiver as he ran his tongue across them; he sucked gently on her bottom lip before slowly pulling away. Tay looked possessed as she stared lovingly up at him; he smirked back down at her, "Now about that favour?"

"I'll do anything you want me to."

"That's my girl."

* * *

"We're home," May called the moment they walked through the door, she pulled Abi past everyone and immediately up to the bedroom to hide their money, "_Do you reckon the others are back yet?_"

"_Why don't we go look?_"

"_Oh yeah_."

They giggled together and began to search through the house, picking up on the fact that some things had been changed slightly, they decided not to ask what happened and just accepted that shit went down and the house had to be fixed. The front door opened and they ran down to see Itachi and Kisame walking in, Abi waved hello then looked past them, "Have you seen Elle-chan and Tay-chan?"

"They're not back yet?" Kisame frowned to himself, "They ran into the forest and we assumed they'd be back before us."

"They're not," Abi felt a terrible chill run down her suddenly, she gripped May's arm and started pulling her towards the door, "We need to go find them, I'm scared."

"Me too, should we go?"

Itachi stopped them as he felt a hand press against his back, he let the girl past him and he tilted his head slightly, "Tay-chan? Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm just fine," she skipped around her friends and clapped her hands, "I'm hungry, what's for dinner?"

Abi stopped her skipping friend and frowned, "Elle-chan isn't back, we need to go find her."

"She'll be fine; you're just a worry wart."

* * *

Warm blood trickled gently through Tobi's gloves as he pressed his kunai deeper into the soft flesh, he smirked gently to himself, no little bitch was going to ruin his plans, not this time. He leaned in close so she could hear him breathing, "I never wanted this you know, I was going to let you live but desperate times call for desperate measures and all that. Don't take it personally."

Elle whimpered at the pain, his hand covered her mouth to stop her screams from being audible. Tears rolled gently down her cheeks as the pain really set in.

Tobi pulled the kunai out, Elle's body shuddering at the sudden movement; he ran the blood soaked handle down the side of her face, "Don't cry Elle-chan, this will all be over soon. Now I'm going to let you speak but only because I want a few answers, understand?" She nodded weakly and he let go, "Good girl, now, what is this Jutsu Itachi has been teaching you?"

"It's a fire based Jutsu," she wiped away her bloodied tears and turned to face Tobi, her voice was croaky and weak, "I don't know what it's for though."

"Odd, is that all he's been teaching you?"

"Yes."

"Alright."

"Tobi-sama…I don't want to die."

"No one ever does, but sacrifices must be made."

"Please."

"Shinobi don't beg," he began to push her gently towards the waterfall, she wasn't screaming yet so it was okay to keep her alive, "But I guess you are an exception, just be thankful you've lived this long."

"Do I threaten you?" Elle's eyes were shaken but determined, he could of laughed at her stubbornness, "Are you scared of me? Is that why I have to die?"

He did laugh at that statement, he threw the kunai past her down the waterfall and placed a hand squarely on her small chest, "Don't flatter yourself," he gave a small push and the girl tumbled down. Her screams were drowned out by the loud rushing waters; her body vanished completely from sight within seconds. Tobi turned and began to head back to the hideout, one girl was gone, one was his slave, one was easily put to the side and one caught his eye. He needed to turn his attention to May, she was going to help him, he wanted her to help him.


	19. Chapter 19

**A.N. Really quick note, I may not be able to update for a few weeks so I'm putting this up now. Please don't be mad I have assessments and choreography for our choir to do and other really boring things like that to do so please don't hate me or stop reading or cry many tears in a corner after being deprived of my awesomeness for so long. But still feel free to review (giving me ideas for later chapters and such) and give me lots of love because I love love.**

**:) KEEP READING!  
**

* * *

"ELLE?"

"ELLE-CHAN?"

"WHERE ARE YOU?"

Three teenaged girls ran around the hideout, calling helplessly for their friend that never returned from the previous night. Tension had been rising all night until in the early hours of the morning when Pein finally let the girls out to go look for her; the air was damp and chilled, only adding to the worried feeling.

"ELLE?"

Itachi jumped down behind May, he placed a worried hand on her shoulder, "Any sign?"

"No," May kept running with him at her heels, "Elle should've been back hours ago, it's not like her to stay out so late. What if something happened?" she stopped moving altogether and shook her head rapidly, "No, she's fine, I can't panic."

"There's something more isn't there?" Itachi could see in the girl's eyes that she was hiding something, "Tell me May-chan, is it about Tay-chan?"

She nodded slowly, "She's been acting so weird, her head hasn't been anywhere near this planet and she doesn't seem to care too much about Elle's sudden disappearance. It's like she's only out her looking because she was told to."

"I'm sure that can't be the case."

"It is though, she's not herself, it's like she's being possessed by something."

"Or someone," Itachi leaned forwards and pushed her farther into the cool forest, "Tay-chan isn't the only one acting weird; I couldn't help but notice that Tobi seems very happy with himself."

"You don't think…"

"I don't want to."

"Itachi-san, if you were an evil master mind and…and you needed to get rid of a body, where would you put it?"

He nodded understandingly, he hated doing this just as much as she did, "I defiantly wouldn't want it near a house full of elite shinobi, it would have to be out in the surrounding forest. We were about a mile south of here so I suggest we start there."

"Right."

Abi managed to catch up to them as they ran with panicked expressions, "Where are you two going?"

"Looking for Elle-chan."

"There's nothing this way but the waterfall…"

"Waterfall?" May's breath left her body, she ran faster and faster until it felt like she was flying. She began to pray to whatever Gods would hear her, she even prayed to the devils that Elle was just severely lost and in need of finding, she didn't want the facts indicating Elle's demise to be true. She ran towards the sound of rushing water and was jerked back at the last second, Itachi held her back by the cloak as she lingered halfway off the edge of the cliff. May fell shakily backwards into Itachi's arms, "Do you see her?"

"Look at your feet."

It took all of her strength to do that single action; there was a small puddle of dirtied liquid mushed in with the dead leaves and dirt, a salty clear liquid was soon added to the mixture. Itachi held the crying girl and looked down the river, it lead to where the new village was being built; if Elle did survive then she would be caught and undoubtedly killed for treason there if she hadn't drowned before that. Things were looking at their worst.

"May!"

"Onii-san!"

Abi and Tay caught up to where the two stood; Tay ran to the edge of cliff and looked out, her face had suddenly turned pale, "You couldn't possibly think…"

"No," Abi shook her head defiantly even as the tears rolled down her face, "No, don't say it…"

May lunged forwards, the only thing stopping her from falling off the cliff face was Itachi's protective grasp, her face was drenched in pain, "ELLE!"

* * *

"Remind me again why I have to help you walk this mutt."

"Hey Akamaru is part of the team," Kiba huffed and turned his head away from Shino, "Besides you were already awake, I thought you could use the company."

"Thanks then I guess."

"You're welcome, we're teammates after all."

A deep growl sounded from the dog in front of the duo, they froze immediately out of concern. Kiba ran forwards and placed a hand on the back of his companion, "What's up boy?" all it took was a couple of small barks and Kiba understood every word, he quickly translated for Shino, "Someone was screaming, they sounded like they were in intense pain."

"You want to go check it out?"

"They'll be too far away for us to do any good but still, the war just finished…"

Shino nodded, he could understand his comrade's uneasy feeling, "It can't be as bad as you think Kiba, I'm sure whoever it is they're fine."

"Yeah I guess you're right."

"I always am, come on Akamaru," Kiba retreated back to his friend and they headed back towards the village together, "I'm starving."

"Pig."

* * *

Cold water rolled backwards and forwards, washing up all sorts of unwanted items from the river. Amongst the discarded foliage of branches and leaves a small body wrapped in a now destroyed Akatsuki cloak also washed ashore on top of one of the larger branches. Elle breathed deeply, oxygen seemed to escape her though. It was after Tobi pushed her off the waterfall; she landed in the water but she wasn't dead, just severely injured, she had managed to grab hold of the branch as it floated by her. She wrapped her cloak around it so she wouldn't fall off when she passed out and rode it all the way down the river. It had taken all night but she had finally washed onto land, she unwrapped her cloak from the log and crawled underneath one of the nearby trees. She panted softly while placing a hand on her still slightly bleeding wound, she shivered at her own touch, "_This really hurts._"

If she had to thank Tobi for anything it had to be the fact he believed she was completely useless, it was the only thing that was probably keeping her alive. He had hit something but it wasn't stopping her from doing anything and he left her with all of her ninja tools, even if her paper bombs had been soaked till they were useless. She pulled out a kunai and used it to rip off her sleeve for a make shift bandage, she quickly patched up her wound and slowly rose to her feet. She needed to figure out where she was, she also needed a place to rest. Elle slowly pushed her way through the forest, using the trees as support, in hope to find someone who was willing to help her; she came across something she really didn't want to face.

"Teme," Naruto was whining to his teammate, it looked like they were collecting firewood, "Can we go back yet? My arms are full see."

Sasuke sighed, obviously they had been doing this for a while, "We just finished breakfast, how can you be so annoying?"

"I'm going back, you coming?"

"Whatever."

Elle held her breath, of course something like this had to happen, she was right by the new village, in other words she was fucked if they find her. She didn't move until she was absolutely certain that they were gone, she continued to push her way through the forest in hope of finding somewhere to stay. Eventually she found a cave that was partially hidden by a large bush, she was going to rest her for a while and hopefully soon she would get further.

* * *

The Akatsuki hideout was quiet, deadly quiet, ever since Itachi had brought the grieving girls back from the waterfall. In the kitchen Tobi was smirking happily to himself, if anyone suspected that it was his fault the girl was gone they weren't speaking up about it. He heard a small rustle from the doorway; just as he expected Tay was shyly looking at him, "Tobi-sama?"

"What is it Tay-chan?" the girl was naïve and easily manipulated but so very useful to him.

"You…you were out there, weren't you? Out by the waterfall?"

"Yes I was."

"Did you see what happened to Elle-chan? Did she…I mean was she…?"

"Ah, yes, I saw that," he dropped his voice slowly but he was still smirking behind his mask, "It was most unfortunate. Konoha scouts from the nearby village, they all ganged up on her and…it was, most unfortunate…"

"Why didn't you help?"

"They cannot know about us yet, I thought I could at least retrieve a body but I didn't expect them to push her off. I'm sorry but I was powerless in the situation."

"I see…" Tay grabbed her arm and looked at the floor with tears in her eyes; she believed every word he said, "So Elle is…"

"Dead, gone with no hope of return. I'm sorry."

Tears began to fall, he held out his arms which were gratefully accepted by the grieving girl. She wept softly into his chest; he patted her head softly, smiling beneath it all, "Hush my Tay-chan; I would never let that happen to you."

"Tobi-sama…"

"What's going on here un?" Deidara's voice rang clear through the near empty kitchen, he sounded completely displeased. He crossed the kitchen quickly and put a hand on Tay's shaking shoulder, "You should go upstairs, your friends need you un."

"Okay…"

She ran quietly out of the room, not daring to look back, Tobi leaned against the bench and put on his fake voice once more, "Why is sempai so mad? Is he jealous that Tay-chan was hugging Tobi-kun?"

"Drop the act, I'm no fool un."

"Ae? Sempai, Tobi is a good boy!"

"Leave them alone, you may have Tay-chan fooled but no one else is," Deidara stood mere inches apart former his former partner, anger coursing in his veins at the mere thought of the horrid crime he committed, the chance for freedom that he deprived the rest of them of, "Elle-chan was no threat to you and you still murdered her un."

Tobi began to laugh darkly, "How could sempai accuse me of such things?"

"You've hurt them enough as it is, why do you insist on continuing to give them grief. They're still children after all. The least you could do is let them grieve in peace and not telling ridiculous lies un."

"I will decide what will be done Deidara," Tobi watched happily as the bomber began to cower slightly under the power he held over him, "And you will do as commanded. Everyone in this building are under my orders and my will, those girls are included. Now I hate to inform you but your plan for destroying me is void, you will tell the others of this and you will also tell them that if you ever try to overthrow me again none of you shall live," he leaned in closely and watched the trembling eyes of his subordinate, "Have I made myself clear?"

Deidara turned on his heels quickly and spat out his words, "Yes Tobi-sama."

* * *

Kankuro whistled softly as he walked through the village's entrance, "Man they've done heaps, that means less work for us right?"

"Not in your dreams."

"Aw come on."

"The people of Konoha have been working hard; we should be doing the same," Gaara admired the handiwork of the Konoha villagers, his people really had a lot to live up to, "Unless of course, you want to lose to them."

"The people of Suna will always be stronger, and we can prove it right now."

"I knew deep down that were related."

"Ah thanks Gaara-san, I guess," he sighed deeply at what he hoped was a compliment, "Where do you think we're supposed to go first?"

"I would assume to the Hokage."

"Well she's right over there, yelling at Naruto-kun…why aren't I surprised?"

The duo from Suna sighed in unison as they watched the blonde boy cower beneath the words of his Kage; they had to wonder why he was being yelled at though. They drew ever closer and the conversation became audible…

"I don't know how many times I am going to have to say this Naruto…stay away from the construction sites. You just about destroyed the building that was going to be the library."

"So…no big loss then?"

"Naruto…"

"Okay, okay I'm sorry," he tried to run off but was caught by his collar; he struggled helplessly as the Hokage held him back with one finger, "Let me go, I've got stuff to do."

"Like destroy some more of my buildings?"

"No, other stuff."

"Uh-ha," Tsunade let go and watched the boy fall flat on his face, she really didn't understand him sometimes, "I've got another mission for you and hopefully that will keep you out of trouble."

"What is it?"

"Ah, there they are," Tsunade smiled and dragged the protesting Uzumaki all the way to the slightly disturbed looking Kazekage, "Lord Kazekage, Kankuro-san, may I present your guide for the day."

"Hey Gaara-san."

"Naruto-kun," he nodded in greeting and tried to ignore the scene he just witnessed, "Where should we go first?"

"You guys got a place to stay yet?"

"Well…no…"

"Awesome, you can stay at my house. Come on it's this way."

The Suna brothers reluctantly followed the orange spaz down the half built roads and into the small newly built house that was going to home them for a few days. They would have been fine staying here but one thing about living at Naruto's was going to bug them…

"Hey Teme guess who's staying with us!"


	20. Chapter 20

**A.N. I'M BACK! I'M GONNA UPDATING WHENEVER AGAIN SO KEEP READING AND REVIEWING!**

******p.s. the poll for Abi's pairing is up so...you know...vote... **

* * *

"_I refuse to let him get away with this,_" May stormed around the bedroom, revenge coursing through her veins, a plan waiting to be told, "_No one ever touches my friends and lives. Nobody._"

Abi wiped away what was left of her tears, it felt to her like weeks had passed but it was no more than a couple of days, "_I want in, Elle wouldn't sit back and cry, she'd be storming around until shit got done. We'll make her proud._"

"_Damn right we will, Tay you in?_"

"_What?_" a tired head rose momentarily from her pillow before slowly sinking back down, "_Talk later, I'm too tired_."

"_At least she's sleeping finally_."

"_Yeah, come on Abi I need to find Sasori_."

The duo left, chatting quietly about the different plans they could hatch against Tobi, neither ever suspecting what their friend was about to do. Nothing more than a whistle of small wind was heard, a rustle of material and the man in the mask appeared before the fake sleeping girl, "How are you this morning my Tay-chan?"

"Never better Tobi-sama," she rose to her knees so she could bow to the man she adored and who was finally paying attention to her, "Do you wish to know what the others were talking about?"

"Please."

"May-chan is absolutely certain that you killed Elle-chan, she won't listen to reason but I know she will in time. Right now she and Abi-chan are off to find Sasori, I'm not sure what they need him for just yet but the moment I find out I swear to tell you."

"You're doing so well my Tay-chan, I'm proud," he cupped her cheek and pushed it gently so he could looking into her adoring eyes, "I know that you will remain loyal to me know matter what and for that I am grateful. You will be rewarded when all this is over, I will see to it. Now there is just one more matter I must discuss with you," he sat next to her; Tobi wrapped his arms around the smiling girl and leaned in close, "May-chan seems to have this way over Abi-chan, the poor girl will do whatever the other tells her to, I must get May-chan to join me.

Tay whined softly in protest, "You're going to start flirting with her again aren't you."

"Tay-chan, my Tay-chan," he stroked up and down her arm gently, she would do anything he said and he didn't even have to try that hard, "It will only be temporary, only until she promises to listen to me as well as you do. Once she has joined our side then I will come back to you completely, until then we may only talk in secret like this."

"I guess that's okay," Tay tilted her head up and kissed the small patch of cheek that was not covered by his mask, "As long as you promise to come back, I'll wait for you forever."

* * *

Chirping birds in nearby trees woke the still tired Elle from her uneasy and uncomfortable sleep. She tried to get up and immediately regretted the decision, pain shot through her like a bullet from a gun and made her squeak loudly. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she slowly got up again, hand clasping her wound, and slowly trudged her way out of the cave. The sun stung as she walked through the forest, its rays patching through the breaks in the leaves. It felt like she had been walking for hours even though she could still see the cave from where she stood, her breath was shortening and her vision was blurring. Finally she let her tears fall, "_It hurts_."

Elle knew that no one was going to come save her; the pain in her wound was growing greatly. She cried freely as her vision finally blurred completely over, "_I just want to go home…_"

The small body fell to the forest floor without any more sound than Elle's cry for home, with no one nearby to hear her she was left there unconscious without any hope.

* * *

"May-chan," Sasori gripped the shoulders of the excited girl before him and tried to calm her down, "Your entire plan will work in theory only, _he_ is way too powerful and intelligent to be fooled so easily."

"We have to do something."

"I know that you're frustrated and angry but that will pass with time. You need to find release to ease the pain."

May slapped the man as hard as she could, "That was a good release, let's do it again some time."

"May-chan that is not what I mean and you know it," he leaned in close and indicated for Abi to do the same, "Listen, he can probably hear us talking right now so if you value your lives I would stop discussing plans of assassination and just do as you are told," he leaned in really close and spoke so quietly the girls could barely hear him, "We have a mission coming up soon, we'll talk more then."

The two nodded and ran away quickly, Sasori softly laughed to himself, it was nice having some people here who were actually innocent but still had some sort of bite. He missed the feeling of innocence, and now he was getting soft.

"They'll do that to you un."

"How long have you been there Deidara?"

"Long enough to see you smiling like an idiot," the bomber smirked and joined his partner in the middle of the living room, "You've almost forgotten what it's like to be innocent, now these girls come along and you feel like you need to protect them. Itachi has gotten so attached I've actually heard Tay-chan calling him onii-san un."

"Lucky him."

"Are you jealous un?"

"To be honest, a little bit, it must be nice to be seen as an older brother, having someone care for you like they are family."

"You have gotten soft un."

"Don't deny that you feel the same way."

"I'm not denying, I'm just not admitting it un."

The puppeteer laughed loudly, it was an amazing feeling to have, the feeling of joy, "You never know what you were missing until it is revealed to you, I'm guessing you heard little May-chan's plan then?"

"Yes, as you said it will only work in theory un."

"How about you and I make it practice?"

"Is there another option? That one seems to be a lot of trouble un."

"We could always go back to the original plan."

"To do that you will need a dead girl un."

"We're two smart guys I'm sure we can find the body of a single dead girl, once we have that all we need is Edo Tensei and we're all set."

"The girls won't be happy about us messing with their deceased friend un."

"I'm sure they will understand."

* * *

Ebisu smiled to himself and adjusted his glasses slightly, his students were improving every day and it made him proud. He heard a squawk and looked up to see a summoning bird flying above him, he nodded to himself and clapped his hands, "Okay team move in." They did as they were told, it only served to make him prouder, "I have to go see the Hokage so I'm leaving you three to train by yourselves, Udon you're in charge."

"Yes sir."

He vanished instantly, leaving Konohamaru to laugh loudly at his friends, "All right, let's ditch."

"We can't do that," Moegi frowned at her teammate's behaviour, even while she secretly agreed with him, "Ebisu Sensei said that we had to train, and besides Udon-kun is in charge not you."

Udon sniffled to himself and pointed vaguely over his shoulder towards the forest, "Let's go, I don't think I can take anymore of Sensei's training today. Besides, I wanna explore a bit."

"Alright! Come on Moegi-chan."

"Okay."

The trio ran into the forest together, all were curious about the location of their new home so it didn't take long for their excitement to reach yelling levels. Konohamaru laughed at the top of his lungs as he led his friends quickly through the maze of trees, "Isn't this great?"

"Yeah it is," Udon smiled and caught up to the leader, "But it's still so repetitive."

Moegi jumped ahead to the two boys and stuck her tongue back out at them, "Too slow, the war is over now so don't expect anything too exciting to happen."

"But wouldn't it be cool if we ran into an Akatsuki member and then we beat them up and brought them back to the village and then we got a huge reward for it."

"I guess…but aren't they all dead?"

"No way," Konohamaru smirked at her, the thought of catching an Akatsuki member excited him greatly, "When I was at Naruto Nii-san's yesterday I heard him talking to Kazekage-sama about a new Akatsuki group, Nii-san doesn't seem to think that they're that bad though."

"Nii-san is amazing, he always sees the best in everyone."

"Oh? Sounds like Moegi-chan has a crush on Naruto-kun."

Udon chuckled at her bright red face, her anger was obvious and pure. She launched herself at Konohamaru and effectively knocked him from the trees and onto the forest floor. Udon stopped running and changed his course, he landed a couple of metres away from his fighting teammates when noticing something off. The others were too busy fighting to see the cloak a few more metres in front of them, he suddenly felt sick, "Guys, I think we should leave."

"Why?" Konohamaru grunted and rolled to his feet, "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Akatsuki…"

"What?"

Moegi screamed when she saw the body, the team of young Genin froze and grouped together. They shook slightly for a few seconds before they all noticed something, the body wasn't moving at all. Slowly the group moved closer to investigate, after getting close enough they relaxed and started breathing again. Moegi bent down and gently poked the body, "Do you reckon they're dead?"

"Na, they're still breathing," Udon sat by the head and brushed back the hair, "Hey it's a girl."

"I didn't know they let girls into the Akatsuki."

"Turns out they do," he blushed softly as he studied her face more, "She's really pretty, what should we do Konohamaru?"

Konohamaru thought carefully and noticed something dark on the leaves beside her, he touched it carefully before jumping back in surprise, "There's blood beside her, we need Nii-san, he'll know what to do."

"Right."

Footst

* * *

eps echoed up the stairway and made Tay jump quietly, she reached up and kissed Tobi's cheek again before he disappeared into space. She sighed happily as May stormed into the room, "_I hate everyone in the building_."

"_That's a bit much, Sasori just didn't agree with your plan is all_."

"_I'm glad I slapped him though_."

Tay tilted her head and rubbed her eyes, pretending she just woke up from a nap, "_What are you two on about?_"

An angry May sat down on her bed and began to strangle her pillow, "_Sasori said that I just needed to release my anger and that my plan would only work in theory. Like he would know a good plan when he hears one_."

"_Isn't he an S ranked criminal, feared by many because of his abilities?_"

"_Shut up Tay_."

She giggled slightly, Tobi was going to love the fact that May's so called plan was shot down by the puppet master. As much as she disliked it she had to get May on his side, it was the only way she and Tobi could be together properly.

* * *

Moegi puffed heavily as she ran around the village looking for Naruto, it seemed like he was nowhere to be found. She was just about to give up and go back when she saw a familiar face, "Iruka Sensei!"

He waved happily as the girl ran towards him, "Moegi, how have you…"

"Have you seen Naruto Nii-san?"

"Ah," he was shocked at the volume of her voice but pointed down the road none the less, "I saw him with his friends at the Hyuuga residence…"

"Thanks Sensei."

Moegi left the man standing there very confused and ran with all her might to the nearby residence, she wouldn't stop banging on the door until a girl with white eyes' confused face opened the door, "Hello…"

"Is Naruto here?"

"Yes, he's this way," her face still confused she lead Moegi through a series of corridors until they reached a large room. It looked like they were having a party because there were a lot of people there, the girl ran over and tapped shyly on Naruto's shoulder, "Naruto-kun, there is a girl who wants you."

He looked over quickly before smiling at the girl, "Thanks Hinata-chan. Moegi-chan, what are you doing here?"

"I came to find you," she started flailing her arms around as she retold him what happened, "We were training out in the new training grounds when Ebisu Sensei got called away and he told us to continue but we didn't and we ran into the forest to explore and the Konohamaru-kun was being stupid so I knocked him out of the trees and when we looked up there was this body and we thought she was dead but Udon-kun said she was still breathing and the Konohamaru-kun saw blood beside her body and he sent me to find you because we don't know what to do…oh! And she is wearing an Akatsuki cloak."

The room fell silent as she finished her tale, the man she recognised as the Kazekage put a hand on her shoulder, "Where did you find this girl?"

"She's out in the forest, I can show you the way."

"Hey Gaara-san don't get all worked up," Naruto stood in front of Moegi as she turned to leave, "If she's injured we should help her."

The boy with a spiky black ponytail shook his head, "Akatsuki is Akatsuki Naruto, I say if she's dying let her die."

"I won't let that happen."

"It'll be you against the village."

"I would like to see this girl," the boy with a bowl cut and green spandex pumped his fist randomly, "I say if she is not a threat we can use her to get some answers."

The boy from the Hyuuga clan nodded, "I'm with Lee on this."

"Fine," the Kazekage faced the room and spoke loudly, "All those in favour of finding the Akatsuki girl and healing her enough for interrogation raise your hand." The majority of the room rose their hands, so he turned back to Moegi, "Lead the way."

"Right."

She lead the large group of shinobi all the way back to the girl and her team. They seemed to have a bit of problem getting everyone into the small space because of all the trees. Eventually they dwindled it down to Naruto, the Kazekage, his brother and Sakura while the others were going to wait back in the training grounds. The girl sat sitting up against the tree, the two boys were busy trying to wake her up by shaking her gently or poking the side of her face. Konohamaru looked up at the sound of others arriving and sighed relief, "Nii-san, she's not waking up no matter what we seem to do. Udon even wanted to try kissing her."

"No I didn't!"

Kankuro began to growl slightly, he crouched beside the two boys and took a good look at the girl's face, "It is her. I change my mind, let's kill her and be done with it."

"Huh?" Naruto ran over to look, he jumped back in surprise, "Elle-chan?!"

Kankuro slapped the girl and shook her more violently, "Oi, wake up already."

Another great slap and Elle opened her eyes drowsily, her voice sounded like a dreamy whisper, "Hta…fe…gre…"

"Don't you go back to sleep."

"Hta…fe…gre…"

"HEY!" he slapped her again but her head lulled forwards as she lost consciousness, he dropped her body on the ground carelessly and stood up again, "Let's just go back."

Naruto looked shocked as he ran over to pick up the girl, "We agreed that she was going to be healed, if we leave her here she'll die."

"So?"

"So! We can't do that! Look at her."

"Naruto-kun," Sakura sighed sadly and turned her head to the Kazekage, "What should we do?"

Gaara frowned deeply, he swore that he was always going to listen to what his older siblings said and Kankuro just said to leave her there to die. But Naruto saved his life by being merciful and now it was his chance to do the same. Elle wasn't helping at all, he understood that she said, "Just go home," but that didn't make any sense. He had to make a decision now.


	21. Chapter 21

**A.N. The only reason I'm updating so soon is because it's my birthday and am on a sugar high from eating so much SKITTLES (some of my mates bought me a 2kg one!)**

**So REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW IF YOU LOVE ME! and the story :)  
**

* * *

"Deidara-san!" Tay ran happily down the hallway of the hideout and barged straight into the man's room, "Deidara-san, are you here?"

He grumbled to himself and shoved another shirt into his bag, "Yeah, what do you want un?"

She frowned to herself, she forgot he was leaving on a mission tomorrow morning, "Sorry, I forgot."

"Doesn't matter, what did you want un?" he turned to face her, she was looking at the floor guiltily with her hands held firmly behind her back.

"It can wait…"

"I'm already listening, so what do you want un?"

"I…um…I wanted to know if you would teach me about explosives."

"Huh?" he really wasn't expecting that from her at all.

"I wanna know more about explosives."

"Why?"

"Because," she stamped her foot and started yelling at the ground, "Everyone else is really good at something and I'm not."

He was really confused now, he had never ever seen her act this way, he never thought it was possible for her to think something like that. Despite the fact she blindly had her eyes on **that man**. He dumped his bag on the floor and walked over to her, lifted her head up by the chin so she was looking at his face, "What are you talking about Tay-chan un?"

She looked determined more than upset, "May is really good at Ninjutsu, she knows something for every elemental Jutsu and it only took her about a week to learn each one. Abi is really picking up Genjutsu, she's been using it heaps and it's really hard to get out of. And Elle was always good at Taijutsu, none of us could beat her so why can't I do anything like that? Why am I so useless?"

"You're not useless, you just haven't found what suits you yet un."

"That's why I want you to teach me about explosives, and then I can be good at something too."

"I don't think that would suit you either," he was so honoured that she chose to come to him but he knew deep down that she wouldn't be any good at it and would just end up feeling worse, "But I know that there is something out there for you un."

"No there isn't! The others took the three Justus, Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and Taijutsu, what is there left for me?"

"How about Kenjutsu un?"

"Kenjutsu?"

"The use of swords," he stood back a bit and pictured it in his mind, a katana at her side and slowly slicing Tobi limb from limb, "I think you'll look good using Kenjutsu un."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, I do actually un."

"You wouldn't happen to know any would you?"

"Sorry, I'd talk to Kisame for that kind of stuff un."

"Okay, thanks Deidara-san!"

"Wait," he caught her hand as she was halfway out the door, there was another matter he wanted to talk with her about. A matter about **him**.Tay slowly turned back around and tilted her head in confusion. Deidara cleared his throat and looked seriously at her.

"I want you to stay away from Tobi un."

"Huh? What?"

"Just stay away from him."

She jerked her hand away from him, he should have known that she'd be upset about it, "Why should I?"

"Listen, I'm just looking out for your safety, so please don't leave yourself alone with him. I don't want to see you get hurt un."

"He won't hurt me Deidara-san," she looked like she really believed it herself, "He wouldn't."

Deidara pulled her into his arms and held her tightly, if he was ever going to do this now would be the time, "He's not as good of a person you think he is. Just promise me you won't leave yourself alone with him un." She went quiet but gripped lightly onto his cloak and he gave her a tight squeeze in response, "Promise me Tay un."

"But there is no way that he would do anything to-"

"Tay," Deidara started hesitantly, "I'm sure even you have noticed the way he pays attention to May-san. The way he stares at her."

"I.. I don't know what you're talking about, he sees May as an important asset to the Akatsuki which is why I want to become stronger," the young adult was less sure of her statement this time. She could sense Tobi there at training but his eyes were always elsewhere and as much as she wants to believe what she has been telling herself, Deidara simply woke a slumbering issue deep in her mind.

Deidara swallowed, feeling Tay's discomfort and grabbed her shoulders to look at her at eye level, "Look, just promise me that you'll not be left alone with him un."

"Why do you even care so much?" she grumbled with her anger flared up again. She needed someone to take her frustration out on and Deidara, just so, happened to be first up to bat.

"What has he done to make you hate him so much?"

"Tay, listen to me…"

"No," the teenager back away unsteadily, "you're, you're just jealous because he's stronger and an...and he's smarter and a better ninja than you will ever be."

Deidara sighed gently and rubbed the back of his neck before looking back at her, "You're a smart girl Tay-chan but you are just too naïve un."

"Now you're insulting me?"

He closed the space between them and hugged Tay tightly, knowing the real truth would do nothing to help the situation. He rubbed the crook in her back by her spine, she shivered softly into his gentle touch for a weird but comforting reason, unknown to her. The older blonde dropped his voice to a whisper, one that only she would hear, "Please promise me, I won't be able to live with myself if you get hurt un."

"Deidara?" She whispered back as equally quiet.

"Please…"

"I promise I won't leave myself alone with Tobi-sama," Tay wasn't sure we she said it or why she meant it but concluded that it was because of this strange side of Deidara that she had never seen before.

"Good girl," he pulled away and lifted her head again, cupping her chin softly between his thumb and forefinger, "Go talk to Kisame about the Kenjutsu so you can tell me all about it when I get back un."

Her face lit up like fireworks, "Okay, I promise."

He slowly bent down and kissed her forehead softly, only realising what he had done after he had already done it, "Off you go now."

"Ah…okay…" she seemed extremely confused but smiled at him with a rosy blush and waved as she ran off. Deidara slapped himself in the face after she was well gone, that was such a stupid thing for him to do but nothing could be changed now. What was done was done.

* * *

A cold chill ran through Uchiha Tobi, there haven't been many moments in his life he felt like this, he always hated that feeling. He crossed his bedroom and looked out the window towards the new village, they knew something he didn't, he didn't know how but he knew that they knew something.

"Tobi-sama," a young voice called from his door, she walked in without hesitation, "You called for me."

He smirked softly, "May-chan, I'm glad to see you, come here I want to show you something." She carefully walked over and looked out the window alongside him, "Do you see that large group of trees over there? About a mile or two further, the new united shinobi village is being constructed. Now I understand you are still upset about Elle's unfortunate disappearance, and it has also come to my knowledge that you blame me for it all, however I want you to understand something…"

"If this is about the scouts Tay-chan has already told me."

"Not quite. You see, if I was the one to have done it where would I have put the body?"

"You pushed it off the waterfall."

"And let it float all the way down to the village?" he grabbed her by the waist and slowly pulled her closer to him, "If I had done that then they would have found the body and traced it all the way back here to us already. I'm trying to prove my innocence to you."

May squirmed uncomfortably; he was far too close for her liking, "Why are you doing this when you have no innocence to prove?"

"Isn't it obvious yet?" the old Uchiha leaned his face into hers, "I have found myself rather attracted to you. You are different from anyone else I have met, you intrigue me and I want to know more. If you agree to be with me, I could always go down to that village and find where they hid the body of your friend."

"Elle…" May shifted out of Tobi-sama's hold and stared out the window, unconsciously placing her hand on the glass.

"That's right," the Akatsuki leader slinked his arms back around the slim young woman's waist, pressing his body lightly into hers, "simply say that you will be mine and I will share my world with you."

Madara's breath smoked over tense skin and May shrank at the unwelcome body temperature. She knew what his game was and she didn't want to play it but if he could get Elle back…

"Can I think about it? I'm unsure about what to do."

He smiled; this was going just the way he had planned. He turned her to face him and lifted away his mask, watching happily as she blushed and tried to avoid his gaze, "Of course you may think about it, you have a mission with Sasori and Deidara to Kumogakure tomorrow. I will be expecting an answer once you return."

"Yes Tobi-sama."

She turned to leave but he tugged her back, capturing her lips in his. Madara felt May freeze beneath him but he continued to press his calm mouth against hers, neither closing their eyes completely in order to watch the other. The Uchiha sucked softly at her bottom lip until she relaxed and opened her mouth to his curious tongue. He used the opportunity to explore every part of the still mouth. She had no reaction to his advances but he did not care a single bit. She will come around in the end. She will be his. Eventually, he pulled away and replaced his mask; he leaned in close again, "Tell no one of what happened in this room or what we talked about."

"Yes Tobi-sama."

* * *

A sterile smell reached Elle's nose as she woke from what seemed like an eternity in a cold dark void. She felt stiff, so stiff that if she tried to move she might break into a thousand pieces. She slowly cracked her eyes open, the blinding sun let her know that she wasn't dead yet, but beside from the white tiled ceiling she still didn't know where she was. Finally she gave in and tried to get up, that's when she realised that her hands were tied tightly above her head. She felt trapped and panicked; she twisted roughly and cried as the pain from her wound echoed throughout her tired body.

A door opened and footsteps quickly drew closer to her. Elle shut her eyes hastily, twisted and cried out yet again, she didn't know where she was but she was terrified, she didn't want to die. A pair of strong hand held her shoulders down as she tried to twist free once more, the stern voice ground harshly in her ears, "Stop moving or I'll have to make you."

She knew that voice; she opened her eyes again and stared up into the eyes of Kankuro. Her fear didn't vanish like she hoped it would, it in fact grew. He looked like he was about to kill her, her hands were trapped above her head and she was trapped down by his strong grasp. She panicked again, "_LET ME GO_!"

Elle swung her legs up and struck him in the side of his face with her knees; he stumbled backwards and allowed her time to twist her body roughly once more. A loud crack sounded as the weak metal from the cheap hospital bed broke from its frame, freeing Elle's hands and giving her a weapon. She stumbled off the bed and pushed herself into a corner, the walls helping her stand by herself and the broken bed post readying as her weapon.

The Puppeteer rubbed the side of his face and took a slow step forwards, Elle pushed herself further into the corner, he remained where he stood, "Put the pole down Elle."

"Leave me alone."

"Put it down so we can talk."

"LEAVE ME ALONE."

Kankuro clenched his teeth and moved slowly towards the door, he couldn't leave her alone in here, there was something off about her, something he had never seen when they were in Suna. He turned his head to see his brother and Naruto run in, he put his hands up in defence when Naruto glared at him, "She did it on her own, I was only trying to help like I was ordered to."

"Elle-chan, put the pole down," Naruto smiled and slowly walked forwards, he could also tell that there was something off with her, "We're not going to hurt you. See…" he took off his weapons pouch and threw it at her feet, "…we want to help you."

Elle looked carefully at him before holding onto herself and collapsing to the floor in tears, she was so scared but she wanted someone to hold her and tell her everything was going to be alright, she didn't know what to do. She didn't know if she could trust them, what if they were going to use her just like Tobi was going to and then kill her off when they had no more use for her? She didn't want to go through that all over again.

A cold hand cupped her mouth and drowned out her wails; Gaara had removed her hand cuffs but had a stone cold stare when he looked at her. His voice was calm and comforting but his words made her freeze like a deer in headlights, "Don't cry Elle-chan, this will all be over soon. Now I'm going to let you speak but only because I want a few answers, understand?"

She screamed, pushed him back and grabbed the sides of her head, she was freaking out and didn't realise she was still screaming at the men in the room, all she could see was Tobi glaring down at her, "You're all the same, you're all the same. You're going to kill when you're done with me, don't lie. I can't…I can't…Kill me and just end it already."

Gaara stumbled quickly back to his brother's side and stared worryingly at the girl who was crying incoherent words to herself in English, "I did not expect this at all. Something has severely messed with her head."

"I told you we should have killed her, she even wants to die."

"I don't think that's true Kankuro, if she really wanted to die she wouldn't have tried to break free," he turned to Naruto and nodded, "Would you watch her while we go find Sakura-chan so she can help fix this, I don't want to leave her alone."

"Yeah, I can do that."

Naruto stood frozen as the two brothers left him alone in the room with Elle. He felt helpless as he watched her rock gently and cry, he had hoped that she would give them answers and then they could be friends but now…now he was just frightened that she was going to destroy herself.

* * *

Konan gripped each of the girls' shoulders as the stood ready to leave, "Don't talk to strangers, don't stray from the campsite, stay close to Deidara and Sasori, stay out of sight and please, please, please don't get hurt while you're out there."

"Yes Konan-san."

"We'll be fine, we promise."

She waved the two girls away and looked carefully at the two shinobi passing her, "If anything happens to them, you two will be the ones paying got it?"

"Yes Konan-sama."

"We'll look after them, we promise un."

The four jumped into the trees and headed in the direction of Kumogakure, leaving behind only a few footprints and a worried comrade. Konan sighed to herself as her nerves slowly grew about the mission, she didn't like sending them away after all that had happened. She slowly walked back to her room and flopped onto her bed, she and Pein were the only ones who hadn't left the hideout and it was starting to get to her. She wanted to go out and do something, it wasn't any fun just sitting around the hideout all day and doing nothing. Konan smiled to herself as she turned to the face the ceiling, if she had her way Tobi would be gone soon and then she and Pein would be free to start their long wanted family. It made her squeak with delight just think about it, she had already started thinking about children's names…


	22. Chapter 22

"So what are we supposed to be doing here exactly?" Abi watched the busy villagers bustle about their daily lives, "Pein-sama wasn't exactly clear to us."

Sasori grunted hatefully, "We're supposed to be setting up Deidara's bombing clay at main points in the village; he wants us to destroy it completely."

"But I thought Pein-sama."

"It's Tobi, Abi," May turned slightly pale, she still hated herself for letting him kiss her and how helpless he made her feel, "Haven't you noticed yet? He's the one giving us the missions."

"I have and I also noticed that you turn pale at his name while Tay blushes, care to explain?"

"No, I don't."

Sasori grabbed the arms of both girls and pulled them back to the campsite, Deidara was still there waiting for them. Sasori sat May down by the fire while the other three sat around her, Sasori spoke first, "We can't do anything while you're all worked up like this May-chan, you have to tell us what Tobi did to you."

"He didn't do anything."

"You're a horrible liar."

"I'm. Not. Lying."

"May-chan," Deidara sat forwards. May was shaking furiously and he pulled her into a small hug like a big brother should, "Don't be frightened, we're all here to look after you, I've already watched Tobi take advantage of Tay-chan, I won't see him do it to you too un."

May was completely taken a back with the bomber showing so much affection, it was out of character, but something he said had caught her attention, "What did you see him do to Tay?"

"I thought we were talking about you un."

"Please Onii-chan."

That did it for him.

"I walked in on him 'comforting' Tay-chan. I couldn't see his face, but I knew that he was smirking. She obviously wants to be with him but he is only using her, he's using her like he is using all of us but she's too infatuated to see it un."

"He told me he wanted no one to know that he kissed me, and that's so he can keep Tay wrapped around his little finger," May was shaking again in Deidara's arms, this time it was out of angry realisation instead of fear, "I hate** that** man so much. I want him dead."

"We all do," Abi's fist were clenched so tight they nearly drew blood, no one will ever take advantage of her friends and live, "And we **will** kill him, even if it kills us."

Sasori chuckled and hugged the furious Abi, "You have our full support. We'll help you kill him."

"Too bad we don't have a plan."

"Actually we do, but you may not like it. It involves using Elle-chan's dead body."

May's head snapped to the puppet master, "Edo Tensei?"

"Exactly."

"Do it," she was certain now even though she was scared shitless, Abi nodded alongside her as May continued, "Elle would want to do it, she would want him dead as well."

Deidara let go of May and got to his feet, "So that is the plan, reincarnate Elle-chan and go with the original plan. We will destroy him with that cage Jutsu Itachi-san has been teaching you un."

"Actually," May smirked, if Tobi tried to get this out of Elle then he would have failed miserably, "Itachi-kun was working with Elle on a special Ninjutsu that crosses with Taijutsu, Kisame-san was the one teaching us the cage Jutsu because he has the most chakra and would therefore be harder to trap."

"So?"

"We may have only just trapped him but get Elle back and we will do it to Tobi."

* * *

Shikamaru frowned to himself; Elle had been sitting staring at the wall for nearly two hours now. He had swapped over watches with Neji who said that she was just talking vaguely to herself but the moment Shikamaru entered the room she stopped and just stared at the wall. It was starting to disturb him. It had been three days since she woke up and she still hasn't eaten or talked to anyone. She did scream at people but he didn't personally count that.

Finally he gave up, walked across the room and caught Elle's eye by waving his hand, "How long are you going to stare at the wall?"

She remained deathly silent; she didn't even flinch as he wove his hand faster. He was tempted to give her a small shake but he was certain that she was going to scream if he did. He thought back to the report the Hokage gave the group...

-_Three Days Ago-_

_The rookie nine, team Gai and Kankuro stood before the Hokage with ready ears, they all knew about the Akatsuki girl in the hospital and they all wanted to know what the Kages had finally decided to do with her. Tsunade looked carefully at the group before her, knowing that some wouldn't like what she was going to say, "You should have noticed that the Kazekage isn't here because he is watching over the Akatsuki girl, we have decided that she is to be healed fully and kept in the village."_

_Shikamaru was the first to speak up, "You're keeping her here? So the fact that the group she belongs to started a war that killed many of our shinobi doesn't matter at all?"_

_"I'm with Shikamaru," Neji growled from the back of his throat, his teammates and those of Team Kurenai nodding alongside him, "It's not right."_

_Naruto, as expected, jumped up and defended the girl, "She wasn't at the war, what if she doesn't even want to be in the Akatsuki?"_

_"Why would she wear the cloak?"_

_Tsunade slammed her hands on her desk and stopped any further arguments that were going to start, "That is enough all of you. The decision has been made and I thought that at this age you would all know that the decisions made by your Kages are final and should not be questioned." The room filled with apologetic grumbles, Tsunade regained her composure and continued the briefing, "We are hoping that once Elle has fully recovered she can provide some answers for us, however this may take some time. I have personally examined the girl after hearing about her 'incident' earlier this afternoon. Something has snapped inside of her and I believe it has something to do with the fact she was found half dead in the forest. This also means that she is not to be left by herself and will be put on suicide watch, I need you all to watch yourselves as we don't know if the other Akatsuki members are out looking for her. Dismissed."_

_-Current Time-  
_

...if something is wrong with her mind, maybe he can get information out of her if her works it right, "If you don't eat you're basically destroying yourself."

Cold silence.

"I guess that the Akatsuki could make anyone hardened and fearless, nothing but plain criminals."

The silence continued but because of Elle's long hair covering her face, Shikamaru didn't see her eye begin to twitch.

"I never thought they would stoop as low as to destroy teenagers, drag them from their homes, and then kill them off once they become useless."

"Shut up."

He stopped speaking; now he's getting some reaction, "What was that?"

"I said shut the hell up," she looked up at him, her eyes were daring him to insult the Akatsuki again, "You talk like you know but you know nothing."

Shikamaru actually found himself chuckling, "Are you saying that they're not criminals?"

"They know of their past."

The statement intrigued him, he did research on the four girls Temari told him about and found they had no records at any village anywhere. It was like they never existed. So what did she mean, "They never took you from your home?"

"They had no choice."

"They always had a choice, the group chose to start a war, how can you defend them like this?"

He watched her carefully as she leaned forwards, her eyes were shaking but he couldn't tell whether it was from anger or fear, "I don't blame others for the actions of one."

Shikamaru walked forwards and crouched slightly so their eyes were on the same level, "Tell me what you mean."

"You think you're so smart. You should have realised that one man started the war after getting the rest killed. You are blaming the entire group for the actions of one; he had it planned out from the start."

"They chose to follow his orders," he was fascinated with the fact she knew so much about the group's history, but also at how frightened and angry she looked while speaking about what he believed was Uchiha Tobi, "They chose to die."

"The Gokage chose to engage in war, you blame the shinobi for dying in it?"

"I would never."

"Do you blame the Kages for deaths of shinobi in the war?"

"Of course not."

"You contradict yourself."

He could see in her face that she was only half aware of what she was speaking; she probably was just saying the first words that came into her head, "How so? The Akatsuki is the reason for the war."

"It takes two to tango; a dance done alone will never last long."

"Explain yourself."

Elle lowered her head again and stared at the wall, he knew he wasn't going to get anything else out of her. He needed to speak to the Kages as soon as he could, she was saying some strange things but it could be a way to get the information they want.

* * *

Kisame was pleasantly surprised at how quickly Tay had picked up the basic Kenjutsu steps he had showed her. They had been this nearly all day now and she had improved so much that she had put multiple slashes in his cloak; she had even broken his skin in places. He gave a small puff before leaning back against a tree, "You really like cutting things don't you?"

"Only when they're moving."

He laughed happily, "You'll go far kid, trust me, you will go far."

Tay swung around the short sword he gave her and sliced at the tree closest to her, "It's so easy, I can't believe that I never tried it before."

"Easy?" he couldn't believe she just said that, "It takes years to completely master any form of Kenjutsu, I don't understand how but you are actually using that sword as if you have been swinging it around your entire life. It's quite strange in fact."

"Don't tell me you're jealous Kisame-san."

"No way."

"You are, you are," Tay giggled happily before readying her sword. She charged at him with full determination, making Kisame laugh as he thought she wasn't being serious. Then Tay jumped and swiped at his head. The fish man dived roll out of the way, kunai at the ready, but Tay rebounded off the tree and was already flying straight for him. Kisame sidestepped the full body tackle with ease and jumped back to create some distance. The young trainee dashed towards him, dragging her sword along the ground and she felt a charge run through her; from head to toe then building up in her arms. At the last minute, from a defensive retreating Kisame, Tay swung the sword upwards and felt the rush of power pulse through the sword. Silver shards streamed forward and grazed the upheld arm. Kisame retracted and dropped the kunai, holding the stinging wound. Tay dropped the sword and ran to check on her new teacher.  
"Are you okay, Kisame Sensei?"

"I'm fine," he shook out his arm then grabbed hers, "How the hell did you do that?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I felt you cut me but we were so far apart," he pulled up his sleeve and showed her the tiny cuts in it, "It's like a bunch of little swords."

Tay smiled to herself, "It felt like my arms were getting hot and all my blood was rushing into them then when I swung the sword, it slipped out and ... that's so cool."

"It is," Kisame nodded slowly, "I think I need to talk to Pein about this."

"How come?"

"I've never seen any Jutsu like this, and you did it so naturally. I guess it's just because you're weird," he rubbed his arm again and jerked his head back at where she threw her sword, "Go see if you can do it again, just aim for the tree this time."

"Okay," Tay saluted proudly and ran over to retrieve her sword.

With both hands gripped tightly around the handle, she stared intently at the tree and began to swing at it. Nothing happened. She did it again. And again. Still nothing. She didn't understand it and looked over to Kisame for some sort of hint.

"Try it again, just think back to what you did with me."

Tay jumped back a few metres and readied herself. She ran forwards, dragging the tip of the sword along the ground and felt the friction run through her. This was it. The increasing tingle ran through her and she swung but watched closely this time, the silver fragments turned into small swords and sliced the exact same way she had swung hers.

Kisame's eyes widen. The untrained teenager had managed to draw the moisture in the air to the tip of the sword which froze as she swung the blade upward. Her chakra element was water and she was already combining it her Kenjutsu. He was deeply impressed. And, just maybe, a little jealous. Currently, they were random but with a bit more training, Tay would be able to control where the hit.

"Look Kisame-san I did it, I did it again!"

"I see that."

"That's so cool."


	23. Character Descriptions!

******A.N.** Heyo this isn't an actual chapter, this was made for Miko Hayashi because they wanted character descriptions for the OC's. I've got all the girls and their outfits and on the end are some facts that _may_ be featured in the story so read if you wish but you don't have to. So here it is but I'm not telling pairings just yet :P. Any other requests you may have please tell me and I'll do my best to fulfill them.

Reminder the Abi's pairing poll is still up and I really need to know hers because it's currently a tie and bugging the hell out of me.

* * *

**Character Descriptions**

**May:** Roughly about 175cm (just a bit shorter than Kakashi), black hair just below shoulder length but it's always tied up in a high ponytail unless she is sleeping (or said otherwise). Of Japanese descent, dark brown eyes, she has **no** accent (you could have Kiwi but the point is she doesn't sound…well…Asian…). Natural pale tan skin. Curvy build, smallish waist gives illusion of bigger hips/curves with average bust. Has a bad habit of playing with ends of her hair when she isn't paying attention or is bored.  
Ninja Clothes: Black full length pants, long sleeved dark blue top with no patterns, has basic weapon set up (weapons pouch, shuriken holders, etc.), and black ankle ninja shoes, Akatsuki cloak is open in front (dark blue jacket when she is training.), top button is sometimes done up and worn as a cloak without arms in when not fighting. Cuts the Akatsuki cloak in half, waist/hip length, and wears it open. (*SPOILER*After Tobi's second threat DUNDUNDAAAA)  
Suna Mission: Strict fitted white blouse with ¾ sleeves, navy blue pencil skirt ending below the knees. Thin black rimmed glasses, lenses are plain glass (so it doesn't affect eye sight), plain ballet flat shoes.  
Pyjamas: White t-shirt or long sleeve v neck, depending on the weather, with baggy soft black pants.  
Casual Clothes: Has black ninja pants, dark blue and light grey hoodie with white singlet underneath, black fingerless gloves, her basic ninja shoes when not indoors otherwise in bare feet.

**Abi:** Blonde with a short bob style cut hair, quite messy spiky. Roughly 170 cm with a smaller build than Mays but with tight curves and blue eyes. Light tan, a bit more on the tan side than pale but whiter than May. Sometimes has splash of paint or pencil marks on her clothing and skin from her painting, sketching etc.  
Ninja Clothes: Has dull brown ¾ pants, with a mid cut long sleeved top, top half (bust and sleeves) is white and the bottom half is forest green, and a short sleeved fish net top underneath, basic black ankle shoes, also has basic weapons set up. Akatsuki cloak has sleeves rolled up over elbows and is done up on one button on the middle, is removed when she is training but not when fighting.  
Suna Mission: Short ninja boots ending at claves, ¾ black pants with pockets, white short sleeved tops, dark blue vest done all the way up (it ends just below the collar bone), basic short sword that has been dulled slightly.  
Pyjamas: Black short sleeved top ending at thighs, army green shorts worn underneath (can just been seen beneath top).  
Casual Clothes: Jean looking pants, dark brown boots on when she's outside otherwise its plain white socks. Basic white t-shirt coated in splotches of different colours from artwork, black jacket is worn depending on the weather.

**Tay:** Wavy black hair ending just above waist that is usually up in a loose bun when relaxing or in a plait (down for sleeping obviously), dark brown eyes, is of Indian descent but has **no** accent or any distinctive traits showing of her heritage except for her dark skin but even then it is on the pale end of that scale (without being racist she is a very white Indian (and the person who she is based on said so herself so please don't get mad or offended)). About 165 cm tall and is nearly as slim as Abi but more muscular and straight in body shape (her arm muscles grow bigger but not out of proportion). Is often caught reading books or stories that she or her friends have written.  
Ninja Clothes: ¾ black ninja pants, a light green tank top with dark green shrug, and normal ninja ankle shoes; she has a fingerless fishnet glove on her left hand, basic weapon set up (until she trains in Kenjutsu where she swaps it for a simple light short sword (maybe a katana later if all goes well…. :)). Akatsuki cloak is only worn on missions where it is always open so she can access her weapons easily; otherwise it's left in her room.  
Suna Mission: same as Abi but her hair is back in a strict plait.  
Pyjamas: Light grey pants (very loose and baggy) and a black tank top.  
Casual Clothes: she prefers to just wear her ninja top but has plain black pants and comfortable boots for outdoors (always odd socks when inside), this is when her hair is in a loose bun.

**Elle:** Shortest of group at about 160 cm (only just shorter than Hinata), practically stick thin, does have a figure but it is only seen when she wears tight clothing (or her birthday suit :P), waist length brown hair that is always down and super messy after waking up. When she's bored or not listening she tends to be humming to herself or doing small dance steps. Pale green eyes framed by very long brown eyelashes.  
Ninja Clothes: plain black skirt with small splits up each side for movement, thigh length back leggings, basic red singlet top, wears a fishnet top that ends at her elbows underneath, black knee high boots with slight heel, just weapons pouch. Akatsuki cloak is worn on and off missions and during training, it is always open and is slightly too big for her but she can still move freely in it.  
Suna Mission: red and black kimono, simple Zori shoes (the ones you wear with Kimonos) hair tied up in a loose bun and held with chopsticks, black and red fan is carried at all times.  
Pyjamas: a very oversized t-shirt with a cat on it and large red pants if it's cold.  
Casual Clothes: long back stockings, white ballet flats are worn outside, the rest is basically her ninja outfit except the top has short sleeves and she doesn't wear fishnets, if it is cold she wears the Akatsuki cloak.

**Fun Facts You May Not Have Known**

- May and Elle have been best friends for 12 years

- May is extremely good at crafting useful materials

- Elle has been dancing for 13 years

- Tay is an obsessive gamer (especially with games like Skyrim)

- Abi is the only one who hasn't seen Naruto (the show)

- Tay loves horror movies

- May over-analyses everything

- When something interests Tay she can become obsessed

- Elle is very musically inclined

- Abi is an air-head but extremely intelligent

- Abi is an unbelievable artist


	24. Chapter 23

**A.N. LET'S PLAY A GAME! I got the idea when Omigesh commented that she feels similar to Tay, comment on who you (or someone close to you) feel like (OC or otherwise), whether it be the personality, appearance, or just if you like them the best. If you want a prize...um...I don't have one...**

**Sorry...**

**Also the pairings have been finalized and will be shown soon, guess if you can :)  
**

* * *

"Bite you motherfuckers bite," Hidan violently hacked at the pond effectively scaring away the last of the fish and his chances of catching them, "Why. Won't. You. Bite?"

A frown crossed Itachi's face, in all his years with the Akatsuki he had never seen Hidan act this way, "What's up with you?"

"None of your fucking business."

"Do you need to kill someone or something?"

"I'll kill you in a second."

The Uchiha prodigy simply turned away and ignored Hidan's threat, this only served to increase Hidan's anger, he raised his scythe and sliced towards Itachi's neck. All it took was a single kunai to block the attack from the great weapon but neither was going to give way immediately. The battle was pure muscle power, whoever broke first was going to get cut, and it was going to hit something vital. Eventually Pein walked out and sighed at the ever straining battle, "What is going on you two?"

"Nothing," no emotion crossed Itachi's face, only a mere twitch as he strained slightly against Hidan's muscle strength.

"Alright, but since you two are so busy I can find someone else to go collect Elle's body."

"What are you talking about Pein-sama?"

Pein smirked as he noticed Hidan was paying just as much attention as Itachi, even if they were still fighting to cut one another, "I have just finished talking to Deidara and he, Sasori and the two girls that were with them are determined to go ahead with the original plan but just using Edo Tensei to reincarnate Elle. Now I just need someone to go get the body."

"I'll go."

"Fuck you," Hidan gave a finally heave and pushed Itachi away, "I'll go and get the job done."

"Well, well, I'm surprised at you Hidan; I never picked you as a family man."

"Shut the hell up."

"Now, now, you're not the only one feeling this way," he leaned against a nearby tree as the two before him slowly put their weapons away, "It seems everyone in the Akatsuki, besides a couple that we will not speak of, has grown attached to these girls despite our best efforts not to. Now we are all stuck in this strange position…"

Hidan snarled, "What's your point?"

"I need to know that if I send you down to the village to retrieve Elle's body you won't go around killing everyone. We're trying to start over and I believe I can trust Itachi not to do so…"

"I'm going," Hidan sliced at Itachi again and stormed past Pein without another moment's hesitation, "And I'll kill whoever I damn well please."

He left swiftly, Itachi walked up and gave Pein a knowing nod, "You just wanted to see if he cared."

"And now I know he does, we really need to get out of this place Itachi-san before any of the other girls get killed."

"We've all gotten soft haven't we?'

"Yes…go make sure he doesn't actually kill anyone."

Itachi chuckled softly to himself, "Yes, Pein-sama."

* * *

"Shikamaru," Gaara raised his hand to the shinobi and indicated for him to come closer, "I need you to do something for me."

The Nara was ever mindful of him, "What was it?"

Gaara held up a small box, he guessed that there was food in there by the look of it, "Go get Elle to eat this."

"Huh? Why me?"

"You are the only one who she had spoken to in the last week; she just stares at the wall if anyone else tries to talk to her."

Shikamaru sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "As lovely as the lunch date with the Akatsuki girl sounds I already promised Iruka Sensei I would help out with the Academy today."

"Darn."

"You wanna know how I did it," he leaned in close but didn't lower his voice because it wasn't much of a secret, "I just insulted the Akatsuki and she snapped. Try that and see if you get a reaction."

He gave a final nod and made his way to the hospital slowly, ever since he witnessed Elle's little break down he had tried to avoid her at all costs. The look in her eyes reminded him too much of his time before he met Naruto, pain and fear was all he could see. He took a deep breath before he entered the room, he frowned the moment he walked in, Elle was looking out the open window but there was no one in there watching her, where was her guard? Elle turned her head when she heard him enter the room and just pointed out the window with a blank expression planted on her face. He quickly crossed the room to see what she was pointing at, Ino was currently screaming curses back up at the window; Gaara sighed and closed the window, "Don't tell me you pushed her out…"

Elle looked away from him but he saw her smirk slightly, she had pushed Ino out the window after she took Shikamaru's advice and insulted the Akatsuki. It was the wrong thing to do.

"Whatever, just don't do it again," he sat next to her on the bed, she crawled away slightly but was curious to see what he had in the box he was opening. "Here," he held the box filled with bread and a small pot of warm leek soup, "Eat this."

She turned away again, even while her stomach growled. His frown deepened at her reaction, he pushed the box closer to her but she moved further away, "I'm not hungry."

"Stop lying."

"I'm not hungry."

"Why are you so defiant?"

"It's poisoned."

He put the box down on the medical tray and looked curiously at her, "Why would you think that?"

She ignored his statement and went back to looking out the window. Gaara growled quietly and turned her back round to face him by the arm, she shivered and backed away as he leant in closer, "Why would you think that it's poisoned?"

"Don't you hate me?" Elle turned pale and stared at the hand that held her arm, "Don't you want me dead?"

"No, I don't. Is this because of your trip in Suna?"

She waited until he removed his hand before answering his question, "Don't you hate me for lying to you? Didn't I 'lead you on'?"

"That is no reason to kill someone, you were following orders right?"

"Mm."

"And I don't hate you, I am upset that you fooled everyone in my council but I don't hate you."

Elle looked at him for a while, she looked like she believed him, she still shook her head at him though, "I'm still not hungry."

"Eat something."

"No thank you."

Gaara growled again, he broke off part of one of the bread rolls and began to chew on it slowly. He was left with no choice now; she wasn't going to comply so now she had forced his hand. He grabbed the side of her face and pulled her in so their lips met harshly, Elle tried to pull away put he held her there until she opened her mouth and he could slide the bread into it. Gaara pulled quickly away and covered her mouth with his hand, "Swallow it." She shook her head and he pushed slightly harder, "Swallow it now."

Slowly she complied and let the bread slide down her throat, she coughed against his hand and pushed it away, "Happy now?"

"No," he picked off a bit more and slowly chewed on it, "Now are you going to eat it yourself or do I have to continue to feed you?"

Elle snatched up the bread roll and slowly chewed on it, she looked like she was in pain while eating, Gaara wasn't sure whether that was because she hadn't eaten in so long or the fact that the wound was close to her stomach and it hurt slightly. He just remained where he sat and just watched her eat, it was the only way to get her to so there was nothing he could do but sit and watch.

* * *

"Hi Konan-san."

"Are you alright May-chan? I hope neither of the boys put the moves on either of you."

"We're perfectly fine," Abi giggled softly as Konan hugged her tightly, "They behaved like true gentlemen the whole time…expect when we planted the bombs, which was kinda felony-ish."

"As long as you're safe."

May's eye caught the masked man lurking in the doorway, she shivered subconsciously and turned to Kisame, "Where's Itachi-kun?"

Kisame smirked and began to read off a small scroll he had hidden in his robe, "He's gone out fishing with Hidan, I'm sure they'll be back later."

"Well," Abi giggled again and looked quickly around the room, "I hope he catches something tasty; where's Tay?"

"Upstairs in your bedroom."

"Awesome, come on May," the two girls started to run towards the bedroom, only Tobi stopped the taller of the two as she passed.

May nodded softly to Abi for her to continue and followed Tobi all the way to his room, regretted memories flashed back into her mind. Tobi shut the door behind them and slowly slid his arm around her shoulders, "How have you been May-chan?"

"Just fine Tobi-sama."

"Now, now, no need to be so formal. Aren't we friends?"

"You're the leader of the Akatsuki…"

"And are you going to join me? I want an answer May."

"I know," she shivered as he drew her closer to his body, she wanted to get out now, "And I have an answer for you."

"Well…"

She removed his arm and walked backwards, she rubbed her arms but stared directly at him, "You're an extremely powerful and frightening ninja, you're intelligent, you're calm which I admire but you're also a deceitful liar and I could never trust you."

Tobi frowned, he didn't like where this was going.

"I don't believe you when you say you're going to get Elle, and I don't believe the story about the scouts. You can kill me if you want but that will only prove that I'm right."

"Where are you going with this May?"

She gripped the door handle and started shaking, "I'm refusing your offer Tobi-sama, and I won't ever accept it."

"How unfortunate," he smirked and walked closer to her until she pressed her back up firmly against the door, "However this is also to my advantage."

"What? What do you mean Tobi-sama…?"

He leaned over her, his power over her growing with every quickening breath she took, "I find you rather attractive but you don't like me at all," he grabbed her arms and pinned them helplessly above her head, "I can do whatever I want to you, you cannot do anything about it. So take this as a warning, unless you do as I say I will **take** you however I wish."

May shivered deeply, she wanted to be strong but he terrified her to the core, "I'll do whatever you say just please don't…"

He let her go and opened the door, "Go tell your friends that from now on you answer to no one but me, you three are not to leave the hideout unless you are training with me or I send you on a mission. You are to talk to no one in this house, understand?"

"Yes Tobi-sama."

"Good girl."

* * *

The last of the leek soup was gulped down, a shudder running through Elle's core, before she threw the empty pot at the Kazekage who caught it easily, he had just sat there all day watching her eat and Elle wasn't sure whether it was creepy or sweet yet. She coughed lightly; it felt so strange to eat after so long that it made her feel sickly. She wiped some crumbs off the bed and turned away from the ever silent Gaara, "Satisfied now?"

"She spoke?" Lee was supposed to be guarding her now and didn't mind too much that Gaara had chosen to stay, "I was beginning to think it was impossible."

Gaara finally got off the bed and began to pack up his stuff, "She was quite friendly when we were in Suna, once you got her talking about something that interested her she could hold a conversation."

"Really? So you know of some things that interest her?"

"I don't know."

"But you just said…"

"Yes," Gaara looked at her and saw her watching him, she was watching to see what he said, "I know what I said but back in Suna she was also pretending to be someone else. I don't know who this girl is."

Lee was watching the Kazekage carefully; Gaara was acting stranger than usual and he was starting to feel slightly worried, "Are you alright Gaara-sama?"

"Hm?"

"You seem a little off today."

"I'm just tired of being made a fool; I guess I was just too trusting this time."

"Gaara-sama…" Lee was watching Elle, she had climbed off the bed and was standing behind Gaara and he hadn't quite realised it yet.

"I'm sorry Lee-san for unloading this on you but I guess I can't see people for what they're really like until they slap me right in the face…" he turned around to give Elle one final look but was greeted with an angry face and a hearty slap. His gourd was back at Naruto's house so no sand jumped up to defend him.

Elle glared at him as he held onto his now red cheek, "You don't know what I'm really like, you've only been believing what your stupid brother had told you and he doesn't know me either. You think that just because I'm part of the Akatsuki I'm automatically the bad guy, you don't know a single thing about me or about them so just…just…shut the hell up you stupid jerk."

Lee looked between the two; Elle was just about in tears while Gaara just looked back at her in shock, he was about to intervene when a sand ninja he didn't recognised burst through the door looking like he had just seen a ghost, "Kazekage-sama! Quick, on the edge of town…"

Gaara turned his head away from the angry girl and changed his focus of attention to the ninja who was shaking in front of him, "Calm down Suetake, what are you trying to say?"

"Akatsuki are in the village."

"Yes…"

"Oh wait," he shook his head when he realised the girl before him was also part of the Akatsuki, "There's more, a man with silver hair and a huge scythe and another one with black hair and a stone cold, unreadable expression. The one with silver hair is attacking our ninja!"

"Hey wait," Lee ran forwards as Elle launched herself through the window and took off, Gaara nodded to him and the two chased the girl down the streets. The last thing they wanted was for the Akatsuki to regroup, even if it is only one more person.

* * *

A large white dog growled deep in his throat at the two men standing before him and his master, shinobi were already falling as the two made their way further into the village. "Jūjin Bunshin," the master called and the mutt turned into duplicate of himself, the two ninjas charged forwards, "Gatsūga!"

Itachi was completely unfazed by the boy's attack, "Don't kill him."

Hidan grumbled to himself, he kicked one of the boys away and smashed the other with the end of his scythe. Hidan's patience was running thin, he wasn't allowed to kill anyone because last time he tried Itachi continually got in the way and the further they got into the village, the more shinobi that showed up. He raised his eyebrow as he noticed Nara Shikamaru charging towards him with his two teammates, he chuckled darkly and looked at Itachi, "You can't stop me from killing that brat."

"Don't Hidan; we were supposed to do this quietly."

"I don't give a fuck anymore," Hidan raised his scythe and indicated for the trio to come closer, daring them to attack, "I've listened to you long enough, now it's time I listened to the teachings of Jashin."

"Don't!"

Hidan flung his scythe around hit the advancing Uchiha and knocked him off his feet, he turned his attention back to the trio once he was satisfied Itachi was down for a while and laughed loudly, "Well fuck me senseless, if it isn't the little shit who blew me up and buried me alive. Come to try again."

"Hidan," Shikamaru stopped running and began to size up his opponent, "I don't know who dragged you out but I'll put you back or die trying."

Hidan charged forwards, laughing psychotically, and aimed for the blonde teammate of Shikamaru's, "Let's go with the latter." The girl squealed and rolled out of the way; the fat kid with them drew back his fist enlarging and punched forwards at Hidan. He just laughed sadistically and jumped over the fat kid.

"Choji!"

Hidan landed on the kid's shoulder and sliced down with his scythe aiming directly at the kid's jugular, he was about to break the skin when Itachi flew out of nowhere and knocked him off the kid's shoulders at the last second. Hidan growled and grabbed Itachi's cloak, "Stay out of the way," he threw the Uchiha away and started to advance towards the group once more. Shikamaru jumped back and kneeled down to start his Jutsu, Hidan wasn't going to fall for that again so he changed his course and grabbed his fat friend instead. He pushed his scythe back to the kid's throat and smirked, "Say good bye now." He was about to pull when something stopped him completely, he saw the small shinobi panting heavily behind Shikamaru.

"Hidan-san!"


	25. Chapter 24

"Hidan-san!"

Shikamaru gritted his teeth, thinking, "How the hell did she get out?"

He watched Hidan's face drop in surprise, the maniac had even let go of Choji, the moment he saw the girl standing there. Shikamaru could not believe it. The other member slowly got to his feet and stared at the girl too.

It was like they this would be the last place they thought to find her. Like they thought she was dead. Elle only managed to run a single step past Shikamaru before he grabbed her arm and yanked her to his side. She squealed in surprise and fell back into place.

Hidan flared red with rage, "You let her go, you little bastard."

"Leave the village now."

"Not until you let her go."

"Leave," Shikamaru pulled her into a choke hold with a kunai at her throat while trapping her by the waist with his other arm, "Or she dies."

Still weak from hunger, Elle's struggled uselessly like a gasping fish on a hook.

Hidan jerked forward, only just managing to stop himself from lunging at the ninja, "Fucking bastard… you wouldn't dare or I will sacrifice you to fucking Jashin!"

The blade was pressed harder against Elle's throat and she started shaking in his grasp. Breath, short and heavy. Eyes, wide with fear. Sweat clung stickily all over her body. Her breathing becoming erratic. Ino started running towards them after observing the girl's change in condition, "She's having a panic attack!"

Elle screamed at the top of her lungs in an ear-splitting pitch. She clawed at Shikamaru's grasp, kicking wildly to free herself. Before Hidan could attack, Shikamaru threw Elle at Ino and yelled to his retreating comrades, "Get back into the centre of the village. Don't let them get Elle."

They drew back immediately, the two Akatsuki men tailing them, running with all their might until they ran into Team Kakashi. It was obvious the team had already learnt about the Akatsuki duo and were heading that way but Naruto began yelling when he saw the screaming Elle, "What the hell are you guys doing?"

Ino dragged the girl to Sakura and the two started trying to calm her down.

Shikamaru turned on his heels as the duo got closer, "Alright guys, we need to separate Hidan and his partner if we want a chance at winning. Sasuke you go after his partner and try to take him out with your Sharingan, okay?" He waited but got no response, "Are you listening?"

"Shut up," Sasuke jumped in front of the group and stood with his back to them. He stood expectedly as they finally reached the group of Konoha shinobi. Sasuke stared blatantly at them, "Itachi?"

Itachi stepped in front of the steamed Hidan and nodded to his brother, "Otouto, you haven't changed a bit."

"How are you…?"

"Soon Sasuke, first you have to let Elle-chan go and then we'll explain everything."

'His brother?' Shikamaru was stunned; he heard Itachi died long ago but here he, standing before them. Even so, he didn't want to let their captive go so easily, "Hold onto her Ino."

"I ISHf FJIS A," Elle was screaming again and bucking viciously against her captures, "U HJ IWDJA!"

"Jd nejf ij re," Itachi's voice was calm as he tried to sooth the crying girl, he turned his attention to Shikamaru and glared, "She's in obvious pain, I don't know what you did to her but you have to let her go now."

"Leave and she goes free."

Sasuke noticed more ninja heading their way down another road, he wanted answers and his brother was going to tell him. He turned to the two medic ninja and stared with pleading eyes, "Ino, Sakura, please…"

They shared a small glance and let the girl go, despite Shikamaru's stone sold glare, Elle automatically ran to Itachi and grabbed onto his shirt helplessly. Hidan walked over and picked her up, he glared hatefully at all the Konoha shinobi and clenched his teeth, "If any one of you have so much as lain a hand on her I will personally make sure your death is slow and brutal."

"Hidan enough," Itachi grabbed onto Hidan's scythe and threw at Sasuke's feet, he untied his weapon bag and did the same, "Is there somewhere a bit more hospitable we can talk? Elle-chan needs to calm down."

* * *

The Akatsuki members all gathered in the kitchen for dinner, Konan was busy serving the meal she made, "Where are Itachi and Hidan?"

"Probably still scouting out the village," Pein gave her a small peck as she served him his rice, "Hidan was still upset about Elle-chan's disappearance and decided to take it out on the shinobi in the village, and Itachi went after him to make sure no one actually gets killed."

"So no dinner for them?"

"I wouldn't expect them back anytime soon, no."

Kakuzu sat impatiently in his seat; normally they wait for everyone, besides Tobi and Zetsu, before eating but the girls had locked themselves up in their room all day.

-_Girls Earlier That Day_-

"_May what are you talking about, we can't go out anymore?" Abi was completely worried about her friend's sudden change in attitude, "What the hell did that bastard say to you?"_

_May started cleaning up her corner of the room, it was a distraction from looking at her friends' faces, "Just please do as you're told Abi, we have to stick together on this."_

"_But it's so extreme. I mean, no talking to the others? That's just horrible."_

"_Those are the orders and we're all going to follow them."_

"_Or what?"_

"_What do you think Abi?" May spun around and pointed at the messy bed that hadn't been touched for over a week, "Look, what do you see there?"_

"_May…"_

"_Tell me what you see there."_

_Tay watched silently from her bed as Abi's eye began to well up slightly, "I see an empty bed."_

"_Why is it empty?"_

"_Because she's dead," Abi stared May down; she couldn't understand why she was suddenly so keen on listening Tobi, "Tobi killed her and now you want to do everything he says."_

_Tay swallowed the lump in her throat, she stood up and decided to add in her piece, "Just do as she says Abi, we don't want to lose anyone else."_

"_Tay, not you too."_

"_Please Abi."_

_May nodded and flopped back on her bed, "Please just follow the orders."_

"_Okay, I promise."_

_-End-_

"What is their problem anyway?"

A dark cackle echoed from the doorway, slowly eyes looked over at the masked figure, "You've gone soft, you all have." No one said a word, he laughed a little louder, "You all care so much about the little brats you don't care what happened to yourself as much, however I believe I've solved you little mishap. You won't have to concern yourselves with them any longer."

Sasori growled softly at the masked man, "What did you do?"

"Girls, come get some food," he called and waited until the three had lined up in front of him, "Thank Konan-san for the food and go eat in your room."

The three girls obediently picked their meal and bowed to the chef robotically, "Thank you for the food"

They then proceeded directly back up the stairs without any other sound.

Tobi smiled beneath his mask and turned to leave, "You don't have to thank me, they're no longer a concern of yours. Please tell Itachi and Hidan all about this ifthey ever come back from the village."

"Bastard," Deidara gripped onto the table with both of his hands, "Bastard. Please tell me you have a plan or something Pein-sama un."

"I do, but…"

"But…?"

"It involves working with the Gokage and that could take years to get together."

Sasori sighed and pushed his plate away, suddenly his appetite had disappeared, "I think we're out of options though…who would you talk to first?"

"Simple," Konan smiled and placed a hand on Pein's shoulder; he placed his hand over hers and finished her sentence, "Uzumaki Naruto."

* * *

"Another world? Isn't that a little bit extreme Uchiha?"

"Not at all Hokage-sama, it is the pure and simple truth."

"And these girls just accepted the fact?"

"Well…not at first, in fact I think Elle-chan still hasn't accepted it and is still trying to find a way back. So you cannot blame the girls for what happened in your village, they were following orders when they had no other option, Kazekage-sama."

"Hmm."

"I conclude Kazekage-sama, this is strange," the Hokage sighed softly but perked up slightly when she saw the eyes of Elle open slowly, "It seems our little friend has finally woken up."

Hidan scoffed, he had been carrying Elle on his back ever since she passed out just after the fight had finished, "You know you look just like a little girl when you sleep."

Elle frowned and started roughly yanking at his hair, her voice was dark and threatening, "Don't patronise me boy."

"Gah!"

Tsunade began to chuckle at the sight of this hardened criminal being tortured by a tiny teenage girl on his back, "Well, maybe now we can solve this little dilemma we have found ourselves in. What are we going to do about you?" Elle pointed at herself in shock and Tsunade nodded in response, "Yes you, from what Itachi has told us you can't exactly go back with them now can you?"

"No," Elle sighed and rested her head against Hidan's shoulder, she felt so much more relaxed now that the two were here, "I can't go back. I could always camp out in the forest."

"Tch," Hidan growled softly as he fixed his destroyed hair, "Not by yourself you won't."

"Why not?"

"You damned well know why."

"Ha, ha you care about me."

"Don't get ahead of yourself kid; we only need you to kill Tobi."

Tsunade growled at the man's name, just when they were starting to settle down he shows up again, "You say you want him dead but isn't he the one in charge of the Akatsuki, won't that be classed as treason?"

"We don't care, ever since we got back we've wanted out," Itachi frowned at the thought of being away from his family for so long, "We've all got our own dreams and ambitions to follow; only he is keeping us there. Once he's gone you can be certain that that will be the end of the Akatsuki."

"Sounds promising, but you would understand our doubt."

"Absolutely."

"Now should we get back to the fact that Elle has nowhere to go?" Gaara made a mental note to apologize to her later on for what he said about her in the hospital, he was beginning to feel like he had really deserved to be slapped, "Because if you need her to kill Tobi, we certainly want to keep her safe."

"Could she stay with Sasuke?"

"Your brother? Why?"

"He is living with Uzumaki right? They are the two I trust the most."

Elle pouted and clung onto Hidan tighter, "Are you sure I can't stay in the forest?"

"You're not staying in the forest."

"Not even if I stay really, really quiet?"

"No."

"Man," she hung lifeless in defeat, "this totally blows."

"Gaara-sama," Tsunade turned her head quizzically to the younger shinobi, "Aren't you and your brother staying with those two?"

"Yes we are."

"Then it is settled, she will stay there until further notice. Kazekage-sama, can you show her the way?"

"Of course."

"Um," Elle landed softly on the ground, she stared shyly at her feet instead of the eyes of the curious Kage. She softly scratched the back of her neck as everyone listened for her question, "Can…can Itachi-kun and Hidan-san stay? Even if it's just for tonight?"

* * *

Kankuro was terrified, Sasuke had been running around cleaning everything in sight and that included his and Gaara's stuff. He had never seen the Uchiha act this way before, "Na…Naruto?"

"Hm?" Naruto was just lying on the couch half asleep, "Yeah? What is it?"

"Is…is he feeling alright?"

"Teme? Yeah he's just happy that Itachi is alive."

"So he does this when he's happy?"

"Na, it's stress."

"I am so lost right now," the puppeteer furrowed his brows together. The only reason he was still sitting around this house was because he was curious to see what the course of action they wanted to take, now that the dead appeared to have arisen again. Otherwise he could've been out with a cute girl. The door opened slowly and he got up to greet his brother but ended up jumping backwards in surprise, "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Hidan scoffed and crossed carelessly across the room to the food cupboards, "Nice way to greet your guests."

"Get out of there," Kankuro examined the others that entered the apartment, "what's going on?"

"We're staying the night so shut up and stop bitching."

Itachi was last in the house with Elle on his back; she had grown tired of walking during the journey to the house. He groaned and shifted her weight, "Hidan shut up, you wonder why no one likes you? Well the reason is because you're an asshole."

"Shut up Itachi."

Naruto looked wearily up at Elle, "They're not always like this right?"

"You have no idea. This is them being nice."

Itachi put Elle on the floor and softly rubbed his back, "You, bed, now."

"Itachi-kun," she whined softly and frowned up at the Uchiha, "I'm not even tired, I swear."

"You couldn't walk here by yourself."

"I'm not tired."

"Maybe if you ate something you'd feel better since you haven't eaten all week," Itachi cooed, noting that Sasuke had stopped cleaning long enough to start cooking up a meal, he obviously had been expecting Itachi to come around, "don't you think Elle-chan?"

"Ah…" she laughed quickly as the two Akatsuki member stared warningly at the girl, "Suddenly I feel really tired."

Hidan grabbed the girl and roughly sat her in one of the dining chairs, "Sit the fuck down and eat or I'm shoving it down your throat."

Naruto started laughing loudly as he made his way to the table; he sat down beside the slightly disturbed looking Kazekage, "I can't believe this is the big bad Akatsuki, I always thought that you would just live in silence or something."

"It's hard to live in silence when some people never stop squeaking in the room above yo-OW," Hidan flinched as Elle kicked him beneath the table, "Annoying little brat."

"At least all my friends are real."

"Heh, I can't believe I missed this little bitch."

"Ha, you do love me."

Itachi smiled softly to himself as he helped Sasuke make the dinner, "You know you really should thank her."

"Huh?" Sasuke had a small smiled on his face because he finally had his brother back, he could see Itachi was smiling the same way, "What do I owe her for?"

"It turns out she and Tay-chan sent you a small letter about me. I have also heard you've been in high spirits because of it."

"Where did you hear that?"

"I make it my business to know everything important about you."

"Hn."

Kankuro looked vaguely around the room, he was certainly surprised at how at ease everyone was, there was absolutely no tension anywhere. He looked over at his brother and sighed. Almost no tension anywhere.

"You wanna go out for dinner Gaara?"

"Let's," the two Suna brothers left with a small wave. Naruto didn't mind too much, he was happy that Sasuke finally had his brother and the fact that Elle was smiling again. He was starting to see a bright future for everyone, for the five villages and the Akatsuki.

* * *

"_I don't think I can do this May_," Tay flopped on her bed helplessly and stared at her empty plate, she hated having to admit it, "_I don't feel right not speaking to the others, I like talking to them._"

Abi crouched into a small ball herself and nodded, "_It feels like we've just used them and abused them, it's just so wrong._"

"_Abi's right, we have to find a way around this_."

"_No, absolutely not, we are not going to risk it_," May shivered to herself, she was feeling the same way as her friends but she had a very good reason to listen to orders, "_Just stay in here until we are told otherwise._"

"_But…_"

"_No_."

"No fighting now girls," Tobi walked in and watched happily as all girls sat up at attention, he also noticed the scowl cross Abi's face but that didn't matter, "It's so good to see you all listening so attentively. Now tomorrow I want you to go out and train with Zetsu, he's going to be watching over your training from now on and he **will** be reporting your progress back to me. I haven't got any missions lined up for you girls for a while so you'll just be training for now. You will be eating all your meals in this room and you will go out to the fields to train. There will be no contact with any of the other members until further notice. If any of you disobey you will be," he looked carefully over at May, "punished for your actions. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir."

"Yes Tobi-sama."

Abi clenched her fists and stared hatefully at the man, "Yes."

"Good girls," he collected the plates and waved happily from the doorway, "Get some sleep and I'll see you in the morning."

It was only a matter of moments after the door shut, May lay down and hastily closed her eyes, "Night guys."

"Oh, right," Tay slowly lay down herself, shyly smiling at Abi before closing her eyes, "Night."

Abi frowned to herself and lay down; she didn't close her eyes though for her head was busy scheming away. She was going to find a way to get the truth out of May and then she was going to find a way to take out Tobi. The man who was starting to ruin her life. Soon ideas were flowing, each more graphic and horrid than the last. A small smile crept onto her face; she was going to enjoy this down to the very last detail…

"Good night."


	26. Chapter 25

"Can you believe it?" Gaara looked over at the strangely infuriating scene of the small girl fast asleep on top of Hidan on the couch, "How can anyone be so calm around a cold hearted criminal like that?"

Kankuro raised an eyebrow at his younger brother, he decided not to bring up the fact that he once was a cold hearted criminal too, "People can change Gaara, maybe they're not as bad as we think. Maybe they've had someone who came along and changed their complete outlook on life."

"Perhaps…"

"But I do have to admit that they're not as bad as I first thought, maybe an alliance could work between us and them."

Hidan groaned and tried to roll over but got stuck and flopped back, "Geez, you're fucking heavy."

"Heavy?" Elle groaned herself and sat up, she pulled back her hand back and punched him directly in the face before climbing onto the floor and going back to sleep, "Asshole."

"Little bitch," Hidan finally rolled over and fell back to sleep as well, either not noticing or ignoring his profusely bleeding nose. The two began softly snoring once more, completely unfazed about what just occurred.

Kankuro laughed softly and stirred his tea, "No wonder the girl is messed up."

"Agreed."

Zetsu smirked as he watched the girl fight his clones, they were obviously worn out but orders were to keep them going until one collapsed. He was guessing that May was going to fall first since she was using straight Ninjutsu and therefore more chakra than the other two. He chuckled softly as Tay went flying backwards, into a tall tree, and cried. How he loved torture and the screaming that went with it.

"Zetsu-san, we need to stop," May panted softly, she didn't know how long they had been out there but the sun was halfway through the sky now, "We can't do this anymore."

"You will go until one of you collapses, those are the orders."

"Tay's not moving."

"Then it is break time," he turned and started to melt into the scenery, "I'll be back after I've eaten my fill."

"Right."

Abi exhaled happily after he left, his clones disappearing at the same time and then turned her head to the girl lying on the ground, "_Get up, we need to talk._"

Tay rubbed her sore back; she faked being unconscious so they could take a break, "_What's with you? You're never this serious._"

"_You guys are really starting to piss me off_."

"_What?_"

"_How can you just give in to him so easily, he's a bastard and we should be training to destroy him,_" Abi frowned deeply, it wasn't that she told off her friends but when she did, she meant business, "_Not listening to and obeying every fucking word he says._"

May splashed some water on her face, she wanted to tell her about what happened but she just couldn't bring herself to do it, "_We can't kill him, he would kill us before we could even blink_."

"_If Elle was here we…_"

"_She's not here so we can't_," Tay stamped her foot at the thought of hurting her Tobi, he promised he was going to look after them, "_We should just do as we're told and things will work out just fine_."

"_How can you say that Tay? That man is a monster. He killed Elle._"

"_No he didn't, it was the scouts from Konoha_."

"_How blind can you be?_"

"_He didn't do it_."

"_Shut up you two_," May cut her arm between the two who had moved into each other's face, they were breathing heavily having gotten so worked up, "_Tay, I know you have a thing for him but he doesn't care about you, trust me when I say that man is nothing but scum. And Abi, we have to follow orders unless we want to end up like Elle, please don't go do anything stupid,_" She pushed them apart and sighed, she had no right to say any of this because it was out of her own selfish fear, "_I don't want to see either of you get hurt because of something as stupid as not following an order, so please just do as you're told._"

"_I'm always following orders_."

"_I know, Abi?_"

Abi clenched her fists and nodded, of course she wasn't going to give up now but the least she could do would be to put May's mind at ease. Zetsu climbed out of a tree, pausing only to wipe some stray blood from the side of his face, "Back to work."

"Stay inside and just concentrate on your chakra control," Itachi gave Elle a few final orders as he and Hidan packed up to go back to the hideout, "Don't be afraid to talk to the others here, we are going to form an alliance with them so you should make some friends okay?"

Elle frowned and fiddled with the rips on her on her shirt, "And you're positive I can't stay in the forest?"

"No."

"Not even if you bury me under a rock or something like that?"

"No Elle, stay here and don't be a pain."

"Okay," she looked quickly over at Hidan and gave him her best pleading look, "Are **you** sure I can't live under a rock?"

"Shut up, you're staying here."

"Man."

Elle flopped back onto the couch and started mending her torn cloak. Hidan marched out the door behind Itachi once he was satisfied she was going to stay put. Outside, Itachi was saying some final loving words that were for his brother's ears only. Hidan scoffed to himself at the touching scene, "Are you just going to stand around or are we going back?"

"Shut up Hidan."

"Move it."

"Fine," Itachi quickly poked Sasuke in the forehead and smiled, "Don't forget to push Elle-chan, if you treat her like a doll she will try to kick your ass."

"Hn."

The two Akatsuki members left soundlessly, the only visible imprint they left was the small lingering smile on Sasuke's face. It wasn't long before the hideout was in sight and with new high spirits coursing through their veins, a new hope for freedom, the pair could not wait to see everyone again, but they were extremely careful as to not show it upon either of their faces. The hideout was unusually quiet, a quiet that could not be explained by Hidan's lack of a rude greeting alone. Itachi walked slightly faster as they entered the building and found Kisame polishing his new massive sword with a dark look on his face, "What's wrong Kisame-san?"

"You're back?" Kisame nodded lightly in greeting and dropped his sword to the ground, the floorboards groaned loudly on the verge of splintering, "It's about time, where the hell did you two go?"

"That is a matter to be discussed at a _safer_ time. Where are the girls?"

"Don't bother, they aren't allowed to speak to anyone. Tobi-_sama_ has them bowing to his every whim."

"You're joking."

"Do I look like I'm joking Itachi? Hey Hidan."

Hidan nodded in greeting before moving off to contemplate in his room, the other two weren't sure what it was but they knew it was going to be dark and involving a lot blood. Itachi turned his head towards the door, scanning for any sign of Tobi's chakra signal, "Where is Tobi?"

"He went to the one of the old hideouts; I think he's gone looking for a new place to stay."

"So he's not here?"

"No…"

"Good, I have some exciting news Kisame," Itachi leaned happily against the wall; the silent girls will go back to being themselves when they hear the news, "It seems our little Elle-chan is still alive."

Kisame's eyes went wide as a gruff chuckle escaped his throat, "No way! Did you see her?"

"I spoke to her, she's staying with Sasuke and, believe it or not, she actually misses us."

"How did she survive?"

"She managed to grab onto a log and stopped herself from drowning. Konoha-nin found her, patched her up and now she's very alive and kicking."

"The others will want to know all about it."

"Also I've arranged a small alliance with both the Hokage and the Kazekage, they seem appreciative of our assistance to kill Tobi and, in exchange we get a second chance in their villages."

"Things are finally starting to look up for us, aren't they Itachi-san?"

"They are indeed."

Water trickled softly, drips echoing throughout the near deserted cavern. Tobi hummed softly to himself as he remembered all the planning, the long nights, the underestimating he did in this very cavern. He would not make those mistakes again.

The reason he came was not to relive the past or dwell on unchangeable events but the menacing ninja couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen and he was going to lose the control he had. He needed a backup plan. And what better back up plan than to resurrect two of the most hated criminals in this shinobi world.

He spotted the rotting corpse of Kabuto and ran his hand across the pale flesh, "If you fail me this time, you will regret I ever brought you back."

All it took was a few hand signs, marking the Edo Tensei, and soon the inanimate body stirred from its eternal slumber. The head rose and looked confusingly at the man in the mask, "You brought me back?"

"I need to use you; I'm going to find Orochimaru right now. However I don't know where his body is…"

"I guess I'll show you the way then, Tobi-sama."

"That's what I thought."

Slowly manoeuvring through the busy village streets, Konan made her way past unwitting people; she was pleased that no one recognised her. All it required was a simple white dress and a small adjustment to her hairstyle. But Konan had another problem; she had no idea where or how she was going to find Naruto. Somewhere was a better place to start than nowhere. Halfway through the unfamiliar market, she spotted Itachi's younger brother walking nonchalantly down the road with a large bag of food in his arms followed him. He didn't seem to notice her tailing him all the way back to his house. He opened the door with a swung, pausing only to yell, "Dobe I'm home."

Dobe? A strange nickname but it symbolised the bond ran deep. She had no other choice but to knock softly on the door and waited for it to be opened for her. The young Uchiha opened the door and stared silently at her, she smiled softly, "Hi there, I'm looking for Uzumaki Naruto."

"Hn," he turned his head and yelled over his shoulder, "Dobe it's for you."

She waited happily as the young shinobi stuck his head around the doorway, his smiled widened as she ran in and hugged him, "Hello Naruto."

"Konan-san," he laughed and returned her hug, "It's been so long."

"I know, I know, how have you been?"

"I've been great, everyone is so happy now that the war is over and even Sasuke came home."

She sat down at the kitchen table and admired the modest surroundings, "That is excellent news; however I came here to discuss other matters with you."

"Hmm?" his head bobbed to the side confusingly as he stared innocently up at her, "Itachi and Hidan left a few hours ago, they pretty much told us everything."

"They were here?"

"Yeah…didn't you know?"

"No I didn't…why were they…?" she turned her head as the bathroom door opened, her face shone when she saw the small girl looking refreshed and clean walk out in nothing more than a boys shirt, "Elle-chan!"

"Konan-san!" Elle jumped into the woman's arms and knocked her off her seat, "What are you doing here?"

She smiled and patted the small girl's head, "I originally came to talk to Naruto about an alliance between us and this village but apparently I'm a little late aren't I?"

"Just a little bit."

"Now about your clothes…"

"All mine are ripped up and I need to fix them," Elle climbed off Konan and smiled happily despite her lack of clothing, "Naruto-kun is lending this to me until I can fix all of mine. Never mind that, how are the others?"

"They're…coping…" Konan didn't have the heart to tell her that Tobi had them all wrapped around his little finger, Elle just looked so happy, "I'm so glad you're alive, you have no idea how much everyone misses you."

"I feel so loved."

"You should."

The front door opened and a gruff voice groaned from the doorway, "Don't tell me, more Akatsuki right? Fucking hell."

"Nice to meet you too," Konan nodded at the two who had entered the room and eyed her carefully, "My name is Konan, and you are?"

"None of your damn business lady."

The shorter boy with red hair growled deeply before bowing slightly to Konan, "I am Sabaku no Gaara, I am the Godaime Kazekage of Suna."

"It is so nice to finally meet you Kazekage-sama," Konan bowed deeply out of pure respect and a little bit of hope that if he thought she was no harm he would take extra care in looking after Elle, "May I apologize now for any and every trouble my association has caused you and your village."

If he was surprised about her respect and apologies for him, he didn't show it, "Accepted, now may I ask as to why you are here?"

"It seems I came here to do something that has already been done, however I see that coming here wasn't a complete loss," she smiled at Elle and placed her hand on the girl's shoulder, "I trust you will be taking good care of our little Elle-chan."

"Of course, and you will have your second chance once Tobi is dead."

"I understand," Konan gave Elle a knowing glance before brushing herself off and heading for the door, "I should get back so we can discuss the details of the plan to eliminate Tobi, I hope to see you again very soon Kazekage-sama."

"And to you Konan-san."

Konan kept quickly back through the trees, changing her clothes as she went. She knew her Pein was going to be overjoyed when he heard about Elle and the girls will have to start talking to her after that. Things were finally turning around for the Akatsuki.

They had to know. They had to know now and nothing was going to stop Deidara from telling them. He had even learnt what he was going to say in English so Zetsu would be clueless as what he was telling them. His final jump landed him at the edge of the grounds, each of the girls looked completely exhausted and at the stage of nearly passing out. The long haired blonde charged forwards but halted when Zetsu stood in his way, "What are you doing here Deidara?"

"I'm here to talk to the girls un."

"You know that Tobi-sama has forbidden them from speaking to you."

"I can still speak to them," he looked directly at the three who were looking very confused at him, "_She's not dead._"

Zetsu growled through clenched teeth, "When did you learn English?"

"None of your business un."

"Don't make enemies you can't beat Deidara, turn around now and I won't tell Tobi-sama about this."

Deidara stood his ground, someone had to protect the girls from Tobi, "I'm not scared of him, tell him what you want I don't care un. If he wants to stop me he's going to have to kill me."


	27. Chapter 26

Satisfaction was running through Tobi's veins after he returned to the hideout, he had been away a few days but it was all worth it. Orochimaru and Kabuto had been resurrected and now they were under his complete control, even if they were just his backup plan. He was confident that nothing could ruin his good mood. That was until Zetsu reported to him about the past few days, "Deidara challenged me?"

"He doesn't fear you like the others. He says that if you want to stop him you will have to kill him."

Tobi frowned, he didn't like the fact that someone was standing up to him so soon, "I guess he has forced my hand."

"Shall I summon him then?"

"No," Tobi picked up his mask and calmly placed it on, "I think I can take care of this myself. You go make sure that the girls are following orders and keep them in that room until I say otherwise."

"Yes Tobi-sama."

Zetsu sunk into the floor and completely out of sight, Tobi knew he would always remain loyal so there was no need to worry about him. He just had to focus on the rest of the members. He had hoped that by keeping the girls under his complete control, the members would fall into line but that didn't seem to be the case, it just seemed to agitate them even further. Tobi slowly walked down the corridors leading to Deidara's room, this plan may not have been working but he knew that if he killed the girls off now the rest of the members would turn on him. Tobi smirked slightly as he opened the door to Deidara's room, he didn't mind too much about that, "Can I have a word sempai?"

* * *

May paced back and forwards in the bedroom they had been secluded to, "_What did he mean 'she's not dead'?_"

"_Do…do you think he could mean Elle?_" Tay was hopeful but doubtful at the same time, "_Maybe Deidara knows something._"

"_You're a genius Tay, I never would have guessed that Deidara would __**know**__ something._"

"_I know right?_"

"_Sarcasm, dear Tay, I was using sarcasm._"

"_Oh….shut up._"

Abi sat quietly on her bed, those two had been quarrelling over Deidara's words for the last few days now, she already knew what Deidara meant. Elle was alive, there was no other explanation for it, and Abi was going to get her back if it was the last thing she did. She already had several plans lurking in the back of her mind, even if they all involved using the rest of the Akatsuki.

Zetsu slinked into the room and watched the girls bicker between themselves, "What are you fighting about now?"

"It's nothing Zetsu-san," May backed away slowly from Tay, her eyes never wavered from the other girl, "Just bits and bobs from training."

"Oh?"

Tay sat on her bed in a huff, her eyes were searching for nothing out the window, "May seems to think that we're training far too much, I'm fine with the way things are."

"I see…" he didn't believe a word the two girls were saying, "So it had nothing to do about whatever Deidara said to you?"

"Nope."

"Absolutely not."

A few thoughts ran quickly through his mind, "So…this has nothing to with the fact…that…Elle-chan may still be alive?"

Abi gritted her teeth as she watched Tay gasp and jump up in surprise, "How did you know?"

"I didn't."

Abi moved fast, she grabbed a kunai out of her bag and jumped at Zetsu and pushed the small weapon deep into the gap between his cloak and his head. He yelped at the searing pain and flung his arm back at the girl, pushing her away and pulling the weapon out of his body. Abi jumped at the man again and tackled him to the ground, she held him down by using a series small Genjutsu to make him think he was losing consciousness, she kept her focus on him while yelling at her friends, "_Don't just sit there, kill him._"

"_Abi what the hell are you thinking,_" May stared in wide eyed shock as the speechless Tay had turned pale at the sight of the crimson blood, "_We can't…it's wrong…_"

"_Do it or we die!_"

May reacted on order, grabbing Tay's sword, and hacked at the multi-coloured head until the body fell limp under Abi. She stumbled away as the realisation of what she just did caught up with her. Tay fell with a thud to the floor, choosing to faint after watching her friends kill a man. Abi got off the corpse, his blood covered most of her as she walked slowly away. She ran her hand through her hair, changing the gold to a sunset orange, "_I'm tired_."

She sat on the floor, shaking for head to foot, she murdered a man but she had no choice. May slowly crawled forwards and pulled the shaking girl into her arms, "_We…we had no choice. You…we did the…right thing_."

"_What do we do now?_"

"_We have to get rid of the body and clean up this mess somehow._"

"_Am I a bad person?_"

May looked at the girl, Abi had turned pale with fright, it was obvious she reacted on impulse, "_Why would you think that?_"

"_I'm not sorry that he's dead_."

"_If you are a bad person for thinking that then so am I. I'm not sorry either_."

* * *

Zetsu's chakra signal had vanished. Tobi shrugged it off, he must've gone to get away from the girls, he had other things to worry about. Deidara stood opposite him, hands in his clay bags, and a look that would terrify any ordinary shinobi. But Tobi was no ordinary shinobi. Deidara slowly pulled out his hands and started moulding his 'art', "Are you ready un?"

"Of course, you should never keep your superiors waiting right," His voice deepened, became low and cynical. "Sempai?"

"Enough games," the amount of mini creatures that flew towards Tobi was uncountable. They moved on their own, crawling all around and through Tobi's cloak, but Tobi remained unfazed and still as these creatures did so, he wasn't the least bit concerned about anything Deidara did. It only took a small hand sign for every single creature to explode, it would have killed any normal ninja but Tobi was far more than that.

Vibrant colours of red and orange mingled with the black smoke; no silhouette was seen in the mess because Tobi had already moved behind the blonde bomber. A sharp kunai jutted forwards towards Deidara's shoulder blade but the muscle was only nicked as he dived out of the way and jumped on to his clay bird, he flew up in the sky and began to mould his weapons once more. He didn't know how Tobi could evade attacks so easily but he had to figure it out if he was going to stand a chance against the dreaded shinobi, he needed every advantage in this fight if he wanted to win.

* * *

"Open this door right now," Pein rapped harshly on the wood blocking him from the three girls, Zetsu was in there but then his signal disappeared and Pein knew he heard at least two bodies fall, "I will break it down if I have to."

May's voice was stern but he could hear it was slightly shaken, "We're not allowed to."

"Open this door!"

"Please just leave."

He pulled away from the door so Hidan and Kisame could start breaking it down, everyone in the house had gathered here the moment Zetsu's signal vanished. Each was just as concerned as the person next to them but none were entirely sure on how to act in this situation. The door fell with a crash and revealed two girls sitting on a mat in the middle of the room while Tay was asleep in her bed. Pein curiously looked around, everything looked normal, "Where's Zetsu?"

Abi looked flustered as she answered, "He went out to get us some food because we were hungry."

"Okay then, why didn't he just go to the kitchen?"

"He…doesn't like you guys."

"Of course," a minor detail caught Pein's eye just as he was about to believe the girls, "So who got hurt?"

May looked generally confused, "No one."

"I don't believe you."

"Oh, why not?"

"Abi-chan is blonde, not a red head," he pointed at the orange that the girls had failed to wash out of Abi's hair, "This room also smells richly of blood so I am going to ask one more time, where is Zetsu?"

The two worried girls shared a small looked before May crawled off the mat and pulled back the sheets draping over the side of her bed, Zetsu's dead body was squashed in the small space. Hidan knew the unsaid order and moved off to remove and dispose to the body properly; Konan went to coax the 'sleeping' Tay to wake up while the rest sat around the two conscious girls readily awaiting the explanation. Neither girl really wanted to revisit the memory but told them nonetheless, once finished May looked at Pein with questioning eyes, "What do we do now?"

"They can't stay here anymore," Sasori was certain about what should be done, even if he didn't like it himself, "They have to hide until we have a proper plan, if we go get Elle-chan so they can get Tobi there is no doubt that they would die. They need more training."

"But where do we hide? We can't go to the village because that would be too obvious."

Kakuzu nodded from his spot by the wall, "And he would find out that Elle-chan is still alive after he goes looking for them."

"How do you know that?" Abi couldn't figure out the man no matter how hard she tried, Tobi would always be a mystery to her, "Why would he come looking for us?"

"He has become extremely power hungry, he wouldn't let anything he 'owned' get away."

"He doesn't own us."

"He owns us all," Itachi was sitting in front of the two girls, his face was expressionless but his eyes were filled with concern and anger, "We have no choice but to do as we're told or hide for the rest of our lives."

"Itachi, Kisame," Pein decided immediately and already began packing up the girls' things, "Take all three of them to the sight of the old Konoha, I've heard there are still some people living there and they can house the girls after we get orders from the Hokage. If Tobi asks; Zetsu has taken the girls away because he received a false order from 'Tobi' on a note, none of us knew of this note until Zetsu told us so we don't know who it is actually from." He handed the three bags to Kisame before hugging the two girls and patting Tay's still sleeping head, "Please stay there and wait for an order from us, don't not accept anything from anyone else okay?"

"Yes Pein-sama."

"We'll be okay."

* * *

Elle's smile was genuine and satisfactory, she had finally finished patching up her cloak and it looked brand new. She was extremely proud of her work. The door opened slowly and ruined Elle's happiness, it was the first time ever since she came here that she had been left alone and now the small group chatting about random things were back. And to make things worse Temari and Sakura were with the four boys.

Sakura quickly walked over to Elle's corner and held out a small bag, "This is some of my old clothes, they'll be better than wearing one of Naruto-kun's tops."

Elle stared blankly at her, the way Sakura was smiling at her just plainly pissed her off, it was like Sakura thought she was completely incapable of taking care of herself.

"Have you eaten today? I can make you something if you want me to?"

She really didn't like the cherry blossom. Elle calmly put on her cloak before picking up her ruined skirt and began her stitching, she knew Itachi wanted her to make friends but these people didn't trust her so she wasn't going to trust them. Eventually Sakura sighed and put the bag down, "You know you can't ignore us forever."

"Give it up Sakura, she's going to be a little bitch so just leave her alone," Sasuke was a little bit jealous that **his** brother had taken such a liking to this girl, "I'm making some tea."

The sand siblings acted like she wasn't there and went on to talk about the transferring of Suna, the one person left went and sat at Sakura's feet so he could stare intently at what Elle was doing, "You're pretty good at that aren't you, then again you are a girl."

Elle flinched in shock at the statement before glaring at him, "That's sexist."

"Huh? What does that mean?"

"That means that you like to suck cock."

"AE!?" Naruto rolled back in surprise, his friends all laughing at his bright red face, "You're kidding right?"

"No."

"Yes you are."

"Really? Was it the sarcasm that gave me away?"

"Yeah a little."

"You know," Elle leaned forwards and tilted her head to the side, "You're really annoying and stupid."

"And you're still wearing my top."

"Your point being?"

He smiled victoriously as he got to his feet, "It means you like me, we're gonna be friends whether you like it or not."

"Fine," Elle smirked at him and slowly began to pull the top upwards, "I guess you can have it back then…"

She couldn't help but notice Kankuro began to watch her as she did this, Naruto's face had grown a darker shade of red but he didn't try to stop her either. Sasuke groaned and shoved a cup of hot tea into her hands, stopping her from lifting the top any higher, "Drink this and leave him alone."

The moment the cup made contact with her hands a small crack appeared down one side. Elle looked out the window and began to worry; she had seen enough of the show to know that this was a very bad sign. She quickly shook her head, it can't be that bad, it was only a tiny crack, "You're no fun Sasuke-kun, or are you just mad that I'm the one that Naruto-kun is gawking at, not you?"

"Hn."

"_Knew it_."

* * *

Blood dripped slowly out of Deidara's panting mouth, no matter what he did Tobi had managed to slice at him and now he could barely breathe. Tobi twirled the kunai playfully in his hands as he stood over the bomber's weak body, "Have you had enough fun sempai? Do you want this game to end?"

"Do it un."

"Tobi-sama," Sasori's voice interrupted the final blow, Deidara began to thank the puppet man for a few more moments of life, "What the hell were you thinking?"

Tobi thought Sasori was talking about killing Deidara, "He went against my orders, what sort of punishment did you expect?"

"I'm talking about the girls, why the hell would you get Zetsu to move them?"

"What?"

"The note you sent him," Sasori was lying flawlessly, one of his specialties, "It said to move the girls to the Land of Hot Water but why would you do that?"

Tobi gritted his teeth and threw the kunai at the ground beside Deidara's head, "Why haven't you sent anyone after them?"

"Itachi and Kisame have gone, I know we went against orders but it is too dangerous for them right…"

"Good, I want a full report when they return," Tobi's anger was rising, someone had taken his pets and he was going to make them pay, "You can take care of that one," he turned slowly and looked down at Deidara's pathetic body, "Let this be a lesson, if you ever go against my orders again I will make sure that you don't get another chance."

Deidara spat out some more blood and nodded, he watched Tobi run off and turned his head to look at the man helping him stand, "Who would want the girls un?"

Sasori smirked and dropped his voice to below a whisper, "We've hidden them at Konoha, they killed Zetsu so we needed to get them out of here."

"So they're safe?"

"Itachi and Kisame are taking them there right now."

"Thank Kami un."


	28. Chapter 27

**A.N. I cannot be the only one completely frustrated and tempted to kill after finding out WHO TOBI REALLY IS!  
I don't want to spoil this for anyone so I'm not going to say who it is but when and if you find out just know I wrote most of this before his reveal but will try to incorporate it to make sense. AND HE WILL CONTINUED TO BE CALLED TOBI SO DON'T COMPLAIN!**

**Love you all for reading and reviewing :3**

* * *

"Why don't you just bring the girls in?" even as she said it Tsunade was writing out the orders so the three Akatsuki girls could stay in the old Konoha, "My ninja are capable of protecting them."

Itachi nodded apologetically as he received the orders, "I'm not saying they aren't, I'm saying that Tobi will first think to look here and probably with Sasuke. That means Elle-chan will be discovered and he **will** kill her on sight."

"I see, won't you at least bring those three in to see her."

"You don't know Elle-chan, she was reluctant enough to see me and Hidan go, if we bring her friends to see her she won't want to let them leave without her, especially under these circumstances."

"I understand, I just have one more question for you Uchiha."

"Yes?"

"What does this mean for the rest of you?"

Itachi sighed slowly, "We will be following orders until we can figure out a way for the girls to deal with Tobi, there is nothing else we can do."

"Good luck Itachi," the Hokage nodded to the retreating Uchiha, her trust in him slowly growing, "I have already set up a house for you all to live in once this mess is all sorted."

He smiled quickly and took off, Kisame was still moving with the girls so he had to catch up fast. Trees began to blur past as he picked up speed. He knew he was going to catch up in a few minutes but he was going to feel a lot more comfortable when he was regrouped with them. When he caught up he saw that the girls had put away their cloaks to avoid suspicion, they waved unenthusiastically on his arrival. Kisame nodded at him, "They're upset about not being able to go see Elle-chan."

"I see."

"They blame you."

"Why?"

"I told them it was your idea."

"Hn."

Tay stood slightly behind the rest of the group, she was confused about what to do. She wanted to be with Tobi, she didn't kill Zetsu so why did she have to hide. Tobi wasn't going to hurt her, he cared about her, he was going to look after her. She sighed to herself and readjusted her bag, "_When are we going to take a break?_"

"_The faster we move the sooner we get there,_" May looked back at the girl, she knew Tay was thinking about Tobi, "_Please Tay just grin and bear it for now._"

"_Okay_."

* * *

The demon fox grinned widely as his long-time crush walked into his house, "Hey Sakura-chan, why are you here?"

"I've got some new orders for you and Sasuke-kun from Tsunade-sama," she explained carefully before waving happily at the girl in the corner, "Hi Elle-chan."

Elle grunted unhappily and continued with her sewing, Sakura sighed at the girl's lack of interest in her and turned back to Naruto, "Where is Sasuke-kun anyway?"

"He's gone out to get food for lunch, since we have four extra people living here we need to go shopping practically every second day."

Right on cue Sasuke returned with large bags filled to the brim with many different kinds of food, "Next time you're shopping Dobe."

"Whatever Teme. What's for lunch?"

"I can make something," Sakura was always ready to flirt with Sasuke, even if she didn't want to admit she still had a thing for him, "What do you feel like?"

Sasuke "hn"ed his answer while Naruto cried "RAMEN", neither of which Sakura knew how to make. She settled on making them a basic curry with plain rice, she also made a huge mess while cooking which made Sasuke cringe at the sight. When Sakura had served up the four plates and smiled happily, Sasuke set to work on cleaning up the splatters and dirtied dishes that assembled on his bench. Elle watched him curiously from her corner, Naruto handed over her plate and sighed, "Ignore Teme, he has this weird obsession with cleaning."

Elle giggled to his surprise and took the plate from him, "He's like Itachi-kun like that."

"Huh?" Naruto sat in front of her, secretly happy that she was talking to and not snapping at him, "Itachi cleans obsessively too?"

"Yeah, there was this one time that we had been training in the rain so when we came inside we trailed mud everywhere. Itachi looked like he was about to pass out," Elle began to laugh to herself at the memory, "After we came out of the bathroom we found Itachi scrubbing furiously at the floor, apparently after he cleaned our trail noticed that it was cleaner than the rest of the floor so he had to clean the whole thing."

"That must've taken ages."

"Yeah, it didn't help that Sasori-san thought it would be funny to repeatedly plop giant handfuls of mud on the spot Itachi-kun had just finished cleaning," Elle sighed and leaned her head back against the wall, "He was not happy that day."

Naruto joined in her laughter, secretly planning to do the same to his roommate the next time it rained, "They don't sound like very deadly criminals now. I guess I pictured them differently."

"Don't judge a book by its cover, you should know all about that meaning."

"What do you mean?"

"No offense Naruto-kun but when someone tells me to depict a picture of a demon fox spirit vessel you are the complete opposite to what I think of."

"What did you think I'd be like?"

Elle looked at the ceiling thoughtfully for a few seconds and put her fingers to her teeth like fangs, "Like an evil vampirey type person."

"Oh? What am I like now?"

"A spaz."

"Ouch," he started on his meal, not the least bit offended about what Elle just called him, "That hurt my feelings."

"The truth hurts, but you know what?"

"What?"

Elle winked and put some of her meal into her mouth, "I'm a spaz too."

* * *

A frustrated Uchiha read the note over and over until it was as familiar as the back of his hand. The print looked exactly like his that for a moment there, when he had first looked upon the letter; he'd had a case of dejavu. Zetsu was right in following orders but it was too bad that it was from the wrong source.

Who would want to steal his pets away from him? …And for what reason?

Tobi's jaw clenched. For some reason the idea of his girls being taken away from him stirred something dark and vengeful in his very soul. He was just beginning to enjoy toying with his girls and he was not about to let someone take them from him. They were _his_.

He scrunched up the note and dropped it in the middle of the room; he was looking all around the girls' room to see if he could find any other clue as to what happened while he was out destroying Deidara.

The room smelled strangely clean, like Itachi had one of his sprees, but he shouldn't have been in this room at all. His eyes began to sharpen, searching for the tiniest detail, scanning all around the small room. All he needed was one slip up, one forgotten detail, in order to find out who did it.

He found nothing.

No matter how hard he looked the only thing off about this room was the fact that it smelled slightly sterile. He needed help on this but Zetsu would be in the Land of Hot Water by now, and he didn't trust any of the others that lived in this building. He needed someone on the outside, someone who he knew how to manipulate…

* * *

"So when can we move into our own house?" Temari paid for the food and began down the road, the siblings had decided to help out with the groceries now that they outnumbered the actual members of the household they were staying in, "I thought you two would already have things set up by the time we got back."

Kankuro groaned and shifted the many bags in his hands to a slightly more comfortable position, "Things came up Temari, namely the Akatsuki."

"She's a lot quieter than when we last met isn't she?"

"She nearly died, guess she's still freaked out about it," Kankuro sighed as he remembered the new problem the Hokage informed them about, "And now we have to keep a closer eye on her, her friends really stuffed it up."

Gaara grunted in disagreement, "If anything they helped us, Zetsu was the reason that so many of our comrades were killed and injured in the war, they killed him so we know that we won't be put in that situation again."

"Unless Tobi reincarnates him."

"Apparently Itachi was very sure that they got rid of the body," Temari smirked at the thought that Zetsu was long gone, "I doubt that we will ever see his face ever again."

Kankuro frowned deeper than he intended to, "I still don't trust them, like how do we know that this just isn't another one of their schemes like the one back in Suna?"

"You didn't see their faces at our first meeting Kankuro," Gaara thought back to the meeting, back to the honest expressions he never knew Uchiha's could show, "They honestly believed Elle was dead, they had mourned for her and everything. This is not something they had originally planned for."

"I still don't trust them."

"You're going to have to learn to; they will be joining the village after all."

"Remind me again why you agreed to it."

"That is none of your business Jounin."

"Don't pull the Kazekage card."

"I just did," Gaara opened the door and stood looking at the scene before him in quite obvious shock, "What are they doing?"

"They started doing that a while ago," Sakura was leaning against the wall opposite to Sasuke doing the lunch dishes, "Elle-chan said it's called a 'waltz' or something…"

"Why are they doing that?"

"I'm not quite sure yet."

Elle was busy twirling with Naruto around the room; it was obvious that he was struggling to pick up on what she was trying to teach him. Elle laughed again as Naruto fell over his feet and onto the floor, "I don't think you're ready for the boy part Naruto-kun."

"Then what part can I learn?"

She pulled him up and into the position where she was leading, "You can learn the girl part."

"AE!"

"Ready," Elle swung him around gracefully and began to sway, "One, two, three, one, two, three…"

Sasuke pulled the plug, the water rushing down the drain with a loud gurgle, and turned to watch the two dance around the room. If he had to say anything about it, it was that Elle knew exactly what she was doing. She was leading Naruto around the room, throwing in the occasional turn, laughing all the way at how serious Naruto was looking. Kankuro dumped the bags of food next to him and grunted at the dancing duo, "What's she playing at?"

"Hn?"

"One minute she's ignoring everyone and now she's best buddies with Naruto."

Sasuke thought back to Itachi's advice for him and smirked, "He hasn't been treating her like she's a child unlike the rest of us, apparently she doesn't like being treated that way."

"I reckon she's up to something."

"Hn."

* * *

"_This place is a dump_," Tay screwed up her nose at the apartment they were going to be staying, there was nothing particularly wrong with it she just didn't want to be there, "_Remind me why we have to stay __**here**__._"

Itachi sighed and pulled the curtains shut, "Because we're trying to keep you alive. We'll be back as soon as we can but until then just stay here."

"Itachi we have to leave," Kisame watched the sun setting to avoid looking at the 'please don't leave us' looks he was getting from the girls, "Tobi will be waiting for us to return so we have to have a good excuse as to why we couldn't find Zetsu."

"I know, stay safe girls," Itachi handed May the key to the apartment he gave them one final look before shutting the door and sighed to Kisame, "I don't want to leave them here alone."

"We don't have a choice, we have to but they'll be safer here than anywhere else."

"I know."

Abi pulled her ear away from the door as their footsteps faded quickly, "_Looks like we're on our own from now on._"

"_What do we do now?_" Tay flopped into a pre-loved chair and looked directly at her friends with a bored expression, "_We don't even have food. We're gonna starve._"

May groaned and tipped her friend out of the chair, "_Stop being over dramatic, we'll be just fine. You're just upset that Tobi is actually a really bad guy_."

"_He is not_."

"_He is Tay; he's a despicable human being with no emotions_."

"_He cares about me._"

"_He doesn't okay._"

"_You're just jealous_."

"_JEALOUS? For fuck sake Tay he threatened to rape me_," May was red in the face from anger and didn't realise she was spilling everything, or see Tay's shocked face, "_He said he was going to __**take**__ me if I didn't do as he said. So he doesn't fucking care, he's using you like he's using the others._"

Tears began to well up in Tay's eyes, she had been hanging onto a tiny thread of hope but now it had been crushed completely. She felt so ashamed and dirty; she ran into one of the bedrooms and locked the door. She needed to be alone; she needed to sort herself out before she could do anything else.


	29. Chapter 28

Abi scraped the last of the burnt rice out of the pan before leaving it to soak for another hour, "_We really need to learn how to cook._"

"_You're telling me_," May groaned and swallowed the last of her half burnt-half raw meal with a small cringe, "_Has Tay eaten anything yet?_"

"_I put a plate outside the bedroom door and she took it in but I don't know if she's actually eating any of it._"

"_Me and my big mouth._"

"_Speaking of your big mouth, why the hell didn't you tell me about your little meeting with Tobi?_" Abi spat out that man's name with great distaste as she walked away from the sad black dishes that drowned in the sink. First he nearly kills Elle, then seduces Tay and now she discovers he threatened to rape May; it made her furious enough to smile at the memory of killing his right hand man.

"_If you had just told me that was the reason that you were so determined to follow orders I would've been more accepting,"_ Abi sat with a quiet sigh next to her friend, _"I feel so stupid now._"

"_You and I both and, if you don't mind, I really don't want to talk about that ever again," _May shivered as her skin crawled at the recall of Tobi's "chat" with her; his leering embrace, that cold stomach-lurching kiss. She felt like she was going to vomit.

Steering the topic into a slightly different direction, Abi started, "_But we need to figure out a way to trap him so we can use the Jutsu and then the others can kill him, it's the only way we can ever be truly safe from him._"

May didn't want to admit it but the man terrified her to the core. She didn't believe he could be stopped, especially by them. Four high school girls are so going to bring down one of the most powerful villains of Naruto. Yeah, so fucking likely, just as likely as they were going home in the next five minutes.

"_I would want to do it with all of us a few times first,"_ May swallowed her sour fear,_ "but I highly doubt that that is going to be possible since he'll be expecting that move now. We're just going to have to go for it the very second we get a chance._"

"_I guess we could do that…_"

"_Have you got a better idea?_"

"_No, not yet,_" Abi turned back to the dirty dishes and began to take her frustration out on the defenceless burnt-food encrusted cooking utensils, "_but I will come up with something. We can't hide forever_."

* * *

Shouldn't be too much longer now.

In an alleyway of the village, Tobi lurked in strong afternoon shadows. He had been eyeing the apartment for a little over five minutes now and he could only sense the chakra of Uzumaki and Sasuke in there so he knew it would be fine once the demon fox left. Uzumaki stood in the open door.

"I'll just grab Neji, I'll be right back."

"Hn."

As the door was closing, Tobi made his move. He didn't have much time. The door clicked to a soft close. Tobi materialised into the quaint room, forcing the young Uchiha to snap his head around to his dominating figure. A smile stretched across Tobi's hidden face as he nodded once sharply in greeting.

"Hello Sasuke."

"Tobi," Sasuke sneered with no expression, he didn't appear the least bit fazed to see the man standing there, "What the hell do you want?"

"Can't I come and visit a member of my own family?"

"What do you want?"

"I see that you don't want to share pleasantries," Tobi examined the room; it looked as though more people were living here due to all the clothes and tools lying around, he sat at the kitchen table looking at what was left of the meal, he counted six plates, "So I will be frank. Someone has taken my little pets and I want them back. However I can't do it by myself…"

Sasuke stacked up the plates effortlessly quick and dumped them into the sink, "Pets?"

"Some girls I came across and decided to keep," Tobi waved it off, that part wasn't important, right now he just needed an outside man, "The point is I need someone to track them down, and the man who took them. I have some subordinates of my own but they have grown somewhat…attached…to the girls so I can't be sure that I will get them back if I sent them."

"Listen here," glared Sasuke, "the only reason as to why I'm not attacking you is because if we fought we'd both die, but I will **never** help you again."

"Not even if I had the power to bring back your entire clan?"

Sasuke froze at the opportunity, obviously thinking it over.

A distinct powerful chakra signal was rapidly closing in on the small house; Tobi stood up and looked directly at Sasuke, "Don't you want to see them again?"

He looked momentarily down the short hallway before snapping his eyes back to Tobi, "Get out. Now."

Tobi smirked softly and slowly began to disappear, "You'll come around eventually."

Sasuke breathed a small sigh of relief once he was absolutely certain Tobi was gone and the door burst open with a frantic looking Kage storming through, "Did I just sense Tobi's chakra?"

"Yeah he was here."

"Elle, why can't I sense hers?"

"Bathroom," Sasuke marched forwards and began to shake at the still locked door, he and Naruto had tried to get in earlier after Elle's signal disappeared but failed just as miserably. He rapped on the door as loud as he could, "Elle, Elle open the door."

Gaara pushed past him and sent sand flying into the door, eliminating the obstacle in a matter of splintering seconds. He charged in and immediately spotted the small sobbing girl huddling in the corner. Gaara heard the door open signalling Naruto return and he nodded for Sasuke to go deal with him then looked back at pale girl, "Elle-chan, look at me."

She slowly met his gaze, still shivering from fright, "Is…is he gone?"

"Yeah, don't worry he's gone."

She dived into him and clung tightly to his shirt; he reached over to grab her cloak and quietly wrapped it around her. She was wrapped in nothing more than a towel and it made him slightly uncomfortable to see so much, too much skin. However, Elle didn't look like she was going to move for a while so Gaara adjusted his position to a slightly more comfortable one; he placed an unsure hand on her head, "Are you going to be okay?"

"Mhm."

"How?" Gaara wasn't sure whether he should question her right now but curiosity got the better of him, "How did you hide your chakra so well?"

She sniffed slightly but didn't look up at him, she answered quietly into his shirt, "Tay and I use to hide from the others on the roof. Sometimes we found that when we got agitated or scared no one could sense where we were, and just as I got out of the shower I got scared of a spider and I knew that it happened when Naruto-kun was banging on the door. I just kinda froze after I felt Tobi come into the house."

"It's okay," he wasn't going to admit he was a tiny bit of a fraction impressed with this unique ability that the girls seemed to have, he just needed to calm her down as fast as possible so he could find out what Tobi wanted from Sasuke, "We're not going to let him get you, you don't have to be scared of him."

He heard her snort a chuckle as she clung slightly tighter, "Easier said than done."

"Hey Gaara," Sasuke stuck his head around the corner, he was obviously keeping Naruto away with one hand, and nodded towards the shaking girl, "Everything okay in here?"

"Yeah," he ran his hand through Elle's still damp hair; she responded by relaxing slightly after ever slow stroke, "Everything's going to be just fine."

* * *

The silent corridors of the Akatsuki house hummed with Tobi's smirking joy; none of the other members had left their rooms unless they needed vital things like food or the bathroom. No more triviality. Things were exactly the way he wanted it to be. He looked over his shoulder as the main door creaked open, his smirk widening, "Did you find them?"

"Not a trace," Itachi growled through his teeth, they had to play this right or it just wasn't going to work, "The track just disappeared as soon as we crossed the border, no footprints, no chakra, no blood or any sign of struggle. Absolutely nothing."

That did not make him happy, "Zetsu?"

"No trace of him either. I don't know what is going but we need to fix it fast."

"Tch," Tobi's teeth began to grind together as he realised the trail had just gone cold; he turned on his heels and began to plan away in his mind. Of course things were never going to be that easy, but then again that was half the fun of playing the game.

* * *

Low murmurs came from the other side of the bedroom door, meaning May and Abi were somewhere in the lounge. They were far enough. Tay skid the empty dinner plate out the door before shutting and locking it once more. She really wanted nothing more than to go out and beg for her friends' forgiveness but she just couldn't face them. She deserved to be punished. She was so naïve. About Elle. About Tobi. May and Abi weren't going to punish her even though this was all her fault. She needed some sort of punishment and since they weren't going to do it; Tay decided to do it herself. She didn't have the courage to self-harm, nor did she have the will to starve herself, so she chose isolation and hoped that she would suffer this way. Tay sat on her bed, hugging her legs to her chest. She felt so pathetic.

A muted tap-tap-tap interrupted Tay's moping state. The inaudible talking stopped too. Tay tiptoed to the door and pressed her ear against the door out of morbid curiosity. Their chakras had vanished too, meaning the others were frightened out of their wits. Tay shakily gripped the door handle. Stiff shuffling. A clear "Shh". Tay wanted to turn the handle but at the same time didn't want to. She wanted to help them but still couldn't face them. And she hated herself for everything. A moment of nothing. Tay could feel her pulse in her ears. Then their chakra came back as they sighed in relief.

"Deidara-san," May laughed a little awkwardly, "you scared us."

"You guys have no reason to panic," the sound of his voice calmed Tay down, all the built up worries dissipated, "Where's Tay-chan un?"

"She's locked herself in the bedroom," Abi's voice was full of concern, "I think she believes that she needs to be punished."

"For what un?"

"Falling for Tobi."

"Kami," heavy footsteps grew louder as they drew closer to the bedroom door and it began to shake under Deidara's fist as he tried to pull it open, "Open the door Tay-chan un."

She didn't want to open the door but she knew he was going to bust it down unless she did, and that meant breaking her small barrier. Tay unlocked the door so Deidara didn't have to force his way in. May and Abi tried to follow suit but the door was slammed right in their faces then immediately lock it during the objective thumps and calls. She stayed staring at the door, too scared to face him and telling the others to leave her alone; he placed a hand on her shoulder and sighed, "Tay…"

"Open the door!" May knocked loudly on the wooden surface.

"Tay, please open the door," Abi called more politely.

"Please give us a minute, you two," Deidara said.

She bit softly on her bottom lip she did not want to cry in front of him but the guilt was becoming too much for her, small tears began to roll down her ashamed cheeks, "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault, don't feel guilty un."

"But…"

"Don't, you're causing yourself grief that isn't needed or wanted here. Listen really carefully to me Tay," he turned her around and took off his cloak, bandages lined nearly every ligament on his body, he smiled weakly and wiped away some of her still falling tears, "This is just a clone but the point is the same un."

Tay ran her hand softly over some of the wounds on his arm, she began to blush slightly at his well-toned muscles, but concern soon took over once more, "What happened?"

"Tobi wasn't happy with the fact I talked to you three but I'm not sorry, it was his choice to do this because he believed I was no longer useful to him. You didn't do this, he did, I won't stand by and let you blame yourself for his actions un."

"But I…"

"He used you," Deidara confidently stated, "this wasn't your fault un."

Guilt still lingered with Tay for being so stupid but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as before, she pulled her hand away and held it softly against her chest, "Thank you, Deidara…"

"Come on then," he put on his cloak again and held Tay's hand, he opened the door and smiled at the two girls who had obviously been eavesdropping, "I'll make you three some food un."

"Yay!"

"Real Food!"

Tay smiled to herself, she felt better than she had in what felt like forever, she slid up beside him and shuffled nervously, "I'll help you Deidara-san."

"Then let's get started un."

* * *

"YOU CAN'T GO BACK TEME, YOU CAN'T, YOU CAN'T, YOU CAN'T‼"

"Shut up Dobe, I'm not going to," Sasuke rubbed his temples, Naruto had been yelling at him ever since he explained why Tobi had come to see him, "I will admit I was tempted but Itachi is alive, he is my family."

"I WON'T LET YOU LEAVE AGAIN."

"I already said I'm not going."

"I'LL LOCK THE DOOR AND JAM THE WINDOWS SHUT."

"Sakura, make him shut up."

She giggled softly from her position on the couch. Sakura had finally got Elle dressed into some soft pink pyjamas she leant her and was currently having fun playing with the girl's hair, "That's what you get for leaving us once, this is punishment."

Elle looked like a child of twelve in the oversized pyjamas, she was still shaken from when Tobi was here and now that she knew her friends were in trouble she had gone back into the quiet shy girl she was when she was way back in Suna. But that only made her look younger because of the small pout that lingered on her face.

Temari sighed softly when she saw Elle's pout deepen with Sakura's rising amusement, "Would you please leave that poor girl alone."

"She doesn't mind," Sakura smiled at the sand kunoichi and patted Elle's head, "Do you Elle-chan?"

Elle growled softly and her eyes looking everywhere but at anyone, "I mind a lot."

"See, not at all."

"I said I minded."

Sakura giggled and clung onto the flailing Elle like a child and her doll, her teammates were slightly disturbed at seeing her be so…girly, "You're so cute Elle-chan!"

"Hey! I'm not a teddy bear, put me down‼"

"Hehe!"

"Anyway," Kankuro turned away slowly from the two squeaking at each other and got back to the main focus of the situation, "If Tobi wants you to join him then don't you think we should move the teddy bear to a safer location."

"She can stay at my house‼"

"LET ME GO YOU PINK HAIRED BITCH‼"

"So Sakura's is out of the question," Temari decided to do the same as her brother but chose to focus on the dirt hiding in her nails, "I don't think that she'll settle in anywhere other than here to be completely honest. People just don't trust the Akatsuki."

Sasuke actually growled at the thought of Elle moving out, "Itachi ask specifically for her to stay here because he trusts **us**, she's staying."

"I don't think it's your choice Uchiha."

"It's her life, ask her."

"Elle?"

Elle slipped out of Sakura's grasp and dove out of her reach under the table, "I will live in a deep dark hole."

"We're out of those."

"Gah!" Elle crawled further away as Sakura chased her under and out of the table, "Call her off, dear God please call her off‼"

Gaara smirked slightly as an idea popped into his head; he pushed Naruto away from stopping Sakura and closed his eyes peacefully, "Only if you agree to our conditions."

"Conditions?"

"Exactly."

"Now you want me to agree to stuff?! You're crazy!"

"It's a simple yes or no answer."

Elle squeaked as Sakura nearly grabbed her again, "What are the conditions?"

"One; you start being up front and honest, we ask questions and you **will** answer them honestly."

Sasuke smirked to himself as he caught onto Gaara's idea, "Two; while you are staying with us you can be on cooking duty, every meal."

Naruto joined in laughing as ideas floated into his head, "Three; you have to start talking to everyone, no more hiding in the corner."

They looked at Temari; she nodded softly, "Four; you can also help with cleaning, laundry and things like that."

Kankuro thought carefully for a few seconds before smiling evilly, "And five; you have to wear a short maid outfit."

"NO WAY‼" Elle froze, the conditions were reasonable up to now; unfortunately Sakura took the opportunity and latched onto the small girl. Elle cried wistfully and before any of the others could tell her Kankuro was joking she gave in, "Okay, okay, I agree to your stupid conditions. Now get her off me!"

"Sakura let go of her," Sasuke commanded, his fan girl complied, he then held out and victorious hand to Elle, "Don't forget what you agreed to."

"Yeah, yeah. You guys are nothing but perverts. I swear even Hidan looks like an innocent baby compared to you lot."


	30. Chapter 29

**A.N. Sorry for the late update, just been bogged down at school lately. Anyways here it is people, enjoy, and if you really like it and want more, REVIEW!**

**BBBYYYIIIEEE**

* * *

Every day. Tobi had been in this room nearly every day since the girls' disappearance. The only days he didn't visit this room were the days he had to check up on his plan B. He couldn't shake the feeling that he had missed something and the answer was right here in this room. Tobi picked up the still scrunched false note and tossed back and forth between his two hands, it was an excellent forgery and that only served to increase his anger about losing his pets. The paper bounced softly and rolled out of Tobi's reach, landing at the base of what was May's bed. He grunted slightly and crossed the room to pick it up…

…blood…

…he sniffed softly again, he did smell blood. He pulled the blanket from the bed, removed his mask, and smelled it carefully…he recognised that scent.

Zetsu…?

It was Zetsu's blood on this blanket but he didn't understand why. At a closer glance he noticed that the stain had been removed completely but the scent had remained if you got close enough to smell it. He got on all fours and looked beneath the bed, it too had been cleaned but the scent of Zetsu still faintly lingering. The blanket covering the opening had trapped the scent in there, for some reason Zetsu was bleeding and trapped under this bed…

Tobi threw the blanket back at the bed and opened the note once more, the writing was exactly the same as his and the only way anyone could have copied his writing so perfectly was if they had the Sharingan. It all made perfect sense; why Zetsu had 'taken' the girls without proper confirmation, why the others had been so open to listen and obey his orders when it meant they could leave the hideout, and why Itachi and Hidan had come back from the village looking so satisfied. He had never felt so stupid in his life! **His **subordinates killed **his** most trusted ally, formed an alliance with **his** enemies, hidden **his** pets with those enemies and then they lied to **him**

Before he realised it, he had stormed all the way into the living room where Pein and Konan were doing something disgustingly sweet, he growled deeply and returned his mask to his face, "There will be none of that. You aren't here to be together, you are here to follow orders."

"Yes Tobi-sama," Pein removed his arm, a frown planted firmly on his face, but Tobi couldn't help but notice the happy twinkle in his eye, "You seem like you're in a bad mood."

"That is none of your business, is there any news of Zetsu yet?"

"None…none whatsoever."

"Hn." Tobi stormed back out but only to vanish to visit his plan B. There was a need for a new course of action, one that required unknown but skilled shinobi for. The masked man passed several ninjas that he did not recognise; he wasn't surprised that the snake had more loyal subordinates then he did. He moved swiftly through the winding corridors until he reached the pale man sitting in a stone carved chair like nobility. Orochimaru nodded at his presence but Tobi went straight to business, "I need shinobi."

Orochimaru smiled from his seat and waved his hand pleasantly, "I have many at my disposal, are there any you are specifically looking for?"

"I need ones with skills in stealth and retrieval…"

"You will have to be more specific."

Tobi paused to find the right words for his demand, "Human retrieval."

"Ah, you have found your pets?"

Tobi grunted and leaned against the wall, he was too angry to care that Orochimaru was smirking at him, "I believe they're in the village, most likely with Uchiha Sasuke. I want them back alive, I'm going to make the Akatsuki suffer."

"You're going to kill the girls?"

"Maim them slowly in front of those who have grown so attached to them. I'm not going to kill my pets; I'm just going to make everyone in that house remember who is in control. I'll leave them here with you after that."

The Senin's eyes sparkled with interest, he leaned forward slowly, "And what may I do with them while they're in my care?"

"Whatever pleases you most, as long as they aren't killed."

"I think I know the shinobi you are after, Tobi-sama."

* * *

"_Goddamit Tay, stop cutting up the place,_" Abi ducked for a third time. The girls were all training in their own way; May was, somehow, trying out a new water style Jutsu in the cramped bathroom, Abi was trying to concentrate on her chakra control of medical Ninjutsu and Tay was busy cutting any object she came across, "_We have to live here you know_."

"_Do you mind, I'm trying to concentrate._"

"_You're truly a moron._"

_"Hmm? You say something?"_

"_Ow_," May stumbled sideways as she exited the bathroom and trod on some of the dishes Tay had destroyed, "_What the hell guys?_"

"_Tay's fault_."

"_Was not_."

May looked at the dripping wound on her foot and cursed inwardly, "_Would someone just get me a band aid or something?_"

"_I'll fix it_," Abi shuffled over, attentively avoiding the shattered dining ware that mosaicked the floor, she closed her eyes and concentrated on nothing but the wound on May's foot. Everyone in the room remained silent as she did so, no one dared to even breathe should it break her concentration. Suddenly May flung her foot forward, narrowing missing Abi's face, Abi frowned afterwards, "_What was that for?_"

"_My foot feels like its on fire, what the hell did you do?_"

"_Look I tried._"

"_Please just get me a band aid before I bleed to death, please._"

"_Yeah, yeah I'm going,_" Abi sighed defeat and crawled over to the medical bag Sasori dropped off the previous day, "_Tay clean up your mess_."

"_Yes mum_."

All three of the girls had been on edge for the past few days, they wanted nothing but to get back to the way things were before Tobi had tried to kill Elle. They missed the feeling of just being generally happy with nothing to fear, they thought they had found a new home but that wasn't the case anymore. It wasn't helping that none of the girls had any idea as to what they were doing wrong, or if what they were even trying to do was possible.

Abi returned and softly wrapped up May's foot, "_We need a vacation._"

"_In order to have a vacation you need to have a home, let's start with that first. Agreed?_"

"_Agreed._"

"_Tay?_"

Tay threw her sword at the wall, it landed straight in and stuck there, "_I'm in, when do we start?_"

"_After we get Elle back_."

* * *

A small blush lingered on Elle's face as she washed the dishes, she couldn't believe she agreed to wear the stupid maid outfit, even if she did think it was kinda cute. The deep lavender kimono hugged her snugly around her tiny frame, cinching in at her waist with a pastel green obi. Her legs were cold as the kimono only brushed the tops of her thighs. She sighed softly to herself as she pulled the plug, "_I hate my life_."

"What did you say?"

"None of your business."

"Wasn't answering honestly part of our agreement?"

"And I was honest; it is none of your business."

"No need to get snippy."

Elle spun around furiously and glared at the man watching her from the kitchen table, "Don't you have paper work or something else repetitive and tedious to do."

Gaara chuckled softly even as his face remained near emotionless, "I'm doing something like that right now."

"Leave me alone, _stupid Kazekage jerk_," Elle groaned and went to collect the laundry the others had dumped beside the couch, this was definitely repetitive and tedious. She shuffled around quietly, trying to stop all and any communication to the man who was watching her. He had stayed behind so the others could go out. Elle was starting to wish that Naruto stayed instead, at least he treated her like a normal person for a change. Gaara watched her fume to herself silently before chuckling softly again, Elle snapped her head around, "What is so funny?"

"You."

"Me?"

"Yes, you're very amusing."

"Of course, how could I forget? I'm hilarious to look at."

"That's not what I meant."

"You don't make a lot of sense do you?"

"I meant the fact that you're actually willing to wear that stupid outfit, it was just a joke…"

Elle dropped all the washing and stared at him, she had never felt more stupid in her life, "A joke…"

"Yes, you don't actually have to wear that."

"AND YOU LET ME WEAR THIS THING FOR THREE FUCKING DAYS?!"

"Like I said, it was amusing."

"Oh I hate you," Elle, red faced in embarrassment and anger, ran across the room and quickly pulled her Akatsuki cloak on, "I hate you, I hate you, I HATE YOU‼"

Gaara cleared his throat quietly, his voice back to his usual monotone, "And I thought we were becoming friends…"

"Friends?! We can never be friends," Elle was just boiling over all the rage she tried to keep suppressed, she had no one she could talk to so she kept it all trapped up inside, "You don't trust me, I don't trust you. No one in is stupid fucking village will ever trust me and I don't give a shit! All I ever wanted was to just go home and look where that ended me; I got stabbed and pushed off a fucking cliff. I got saved, yes, but it was by people who **hate** me but they don't even know who I am. You haven't tried to learn anything about me, the only person is Naruto-kun but he sees the good in everyone so it doesn't really count. So don't you dare call me your friend."

"Is that really how you feel?"

"I have to be fucking honest with you don't I?"

"I understand you're frustrated, and I am glad that you've finally let it out, but you're wrong on a few things," Gaara calmly rose from his seat and stared at her honestly, "There are a few people in this village who trust you, yes one of them may be Naruto, but everyone in this household trusts you to a degree. I'm going for a walk so you can cool down a bit," Gaara gave her a final nod as he stood part way out the door, "You need to be more honest Elle-chan, otherwise how will we know how you truly feel?"

* * *

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head thoughtfully, he had so many different plans revolving around in his tired head but he couldn't settle on one completely. He looked down from the sky to see where he was going; he spotted two unknown shinobi knocking on the door of Naruto's house. The shinobi were disguised as Konoha shinobi but he knew that they were imposters, why would they be at Naruto's house?

The moment Elle opened the door, Shikamaru instantly figured it out. The shinobi must've been sent from Tobi to get Elle back; he smirked and settled on a plan before moving over to the small trio. He smirked at the slightly pissed off looking girl and put his hand on her shoulder, dropping a tracking device into the ruffles on her top, "Hey Elle-chan, these friends of yours?"

"No," she was blatant, she had her Akatsuki cloak on over top of the maid outfit she was being made to wear but it didn't make her look any more innocent, it actually made her look more threatening, "Can you all just leave now?"

Shikamaru looked at the two and held out his hand casually, "I'm Nara Shikamaru, how do you two know Elle-chan?"

"We were actually looking for three other girls," the taller of the two shook his hand generally, he smiled softly and explained, "We heard that they might be here. I'm Jinsei by the way."

"What kind of girls? Maybe I can be of assistance."

"Their names are May, Tay and Abi, their families have been looking everywhere for them," Jinsei held out three photographs, each containing a picture of each girl, "We've been given a mission to find them."

Shikamaru looked carefully at the photos, these girls were from another world so how could their families be looking for them? Information slowly pieced together in his brain until he had the perfect idea, "Does the Hokage know of this mission?"

"Of course, however we can't seem to get enough information out of anyone," Jinsei glared heavily at Elle who was trying to close the door on his foot, "They don't think we're trying to help."

"Well I'll definitely help you," Shikamaru handed back the photos as he spotted the Kazekage heading back to the house, "Elle-chan here is a friend of those girls, you take her with you and the others are sure to follow."

"Thank you Shikamaru-san."

"You're welcome."

Jinsei and his partner pushed Elle gently back inside, Shikamaru knew that they were going to take her but they would also lead him to Tobi. He didn't trust the Akatsuki's plan, he didn't believe the girls were useful at all; he needed to take things into his own hands. He quickly grabbed Gaara's arm as he passed and pulled the Kage into the shadows of a nearby alley. Gaara pulled his arm back and raised a non-existent eyebrow, "What's with you?"

"Elle is going to get taken to Tobi."

"What?!"

Shikamaru held him back as he tried to get to the house, "Calm down Gaara-sama, we need her to get taken."

"She is terrified of that man," Gaara was obviously upset with his plan so far but seemed willing to listen to the full thing, "Why are you allowing this?"

"She'll lead us to Tobi; he's increased his search for the girls so there is no point in trying to hide the fact that she's alive anymore. We're going to follow Elle, I've put a tracking device on her, and she'll lead us to him, with enough shinobi we can take out the problem then and there."

"And Elle?"

"We'll get her out of the way before she gets hurt," Shikamaru knew this was the only way to satisfy both Gaara and Naruto when they found him, "We can also then start the proper alliance with the Akatsuki, kill two birds with one stone."

"I don't like putting Elle in harm's way; she's been through enough…"

"There is no other option now."

Gaara sighed slowly, the only reason Shikamaru was explaining it to him was because he needed permission to get the other shinobi to follow orders, "Take whoever you need but send at least two teams out to collect the three in Konoha, get them back here safely."

"Yes Kazekage-sama."

* * *

"_I'm going to fucking kill Shikamaru_," Elle groaned and stepped further away from the oncoming duo, she had been able to evade most of their attacks but she hadn't trained in a while and she was dead tired, "Leave me alone."

Jinsei pulled out a kunai and pointed it threateningly at her, "You're weak and we have a mission to do, either you come willingly or I'll kill you."

"You don't scare me."

"What about Tobi-sama?"

Elle froze immediately, she didn't want to show weakness but at the mere sound of his name she began to shake uncontrollably. She swallowed loudly and shook her head, "I'm…not…I'm not scared of him…"

"You look pretty terrified."

Elle went to yell at him when and strong hand hit her vital point at the back of her neck, she fell to the floor and remained motionless. Jiro, Jinsei's partner, scoffed slightly and kicked the girl over with his foot, "She's out like a light."

"It's pathetic really."

"Well what do we do now? Orochimaru-sama said only bring back May, Tay or Abi. I don't even know who this bitch is."

"She knows who Tobi is, I get the impression she is useful."

Jiro kicked the girl over to Jinsei's feet, out of the two he was the laziest, "You're carrying her. I saw a window open out back, we'll go that way."

"Let's move before that Nara kid comes knocking again."

* * *

"Shikamaru you're an asshole," it was obvious that Sakura had a soft spot for the small Akatsuki girl, even before Shikamaru had retold the plan to Team Kakashi and the Sand siblings, "You wouldn't risk one of our lives like that would you?"

"Her life isn't in danger, I've got it all planned out."

"Well if they're moving now, why aren't we chasing?"

"Because that would be too obvious," Shikamaru ignored her and turned his attention to Team Gai and Team Kurenai, "Your two teams are the fastest so you'll be going to collect the other three, after you get them bring them straight back here. No stops either way unless you want to run into the enemy."

"Yes Shikamaru-san."

"Move out," he turned to the other two teams, as the retrieval team left, and leaned against the gate leading out of the village, "We 're going to have to wait here until the tracking device stops moving. Only then can we go after Elle."

Naruto growled, as expected, he was nearly as mad as Sakura about Elle being used as bait, "What if they go too far?"

"That won't happen Naruto."

"How do you know?"

"I just do. Trust me on this, she'll be fine."

* * *

Tobi watched grudgingly as the rest of the Akatsuki ate another meal together, they had gotten too friendly with each other. It probably helped them scheme behind his back. His fingers drummed impatiently on the counter top, catching the attention of his younger relative, "Is something the matter Tobi-sama?"

Two familiar chakra signals grew closer and Tobi smirked, "Not anymore, I want you all outside right now."

A collective sense of morbid caution drew the unwilling Akatsuki out of the house at the devious man's command. They stood in observing silence. There was nothing out of the ordinary then Tobi meandered past the army of his traitorous associates.

"Did you really think you could hide them from me?" queried the masked man playfully dark, "I'm not an idiot."

"No idea what you're talking about," Hidan was always first to get smart, after all he couldn't die, "We haven't been hiding anything."

"Not even the fact that Zetsu is dead and the girls are in Konoha?" A dry throat silence hung over the group, making Tobi chuckle, "Is there anything else you want to tell me before I teach you all a lesson?"

"You're a sick bastard," Hidan snarled menacingly.

"Please don't use such language around our guests," Tobi chirped in his fake persona, abiding welcome to his little search party.

A pair of male ninja approached and everybody stiffened at the sight, even Tobi. Jinsei and Jiro walked side by side, exact opposites to one another but their presence was ignored. It was the lump of a human hung over Jiro's muscle bulked shoulder like a roll of heavy carpet that smacked everyone's attention from the new arrivals. He dropped the body as if it was just a log that he had to go and retrieve. It landed with a thump, remaining motionless at the impact. Her brown hair obscured her face.

Jinsei toyed with a kunai with a whimsy smile spread sickly sweet across his face, "There was no sign of the girls you were after but we found this one. Is she of any use?"

"This… this" Tobi was honestly stunned. How in fiery hell did she survive? She should've been well beyond dead. Elle stirred at the sound but didn't realise the situation until Tobi kicked her into a nearby tree, "You saved her?"

He started towards her but Itachi and Pein reached her before him, Pein cleared his throat while Itachi tended to her, "You are not going to hurt her anymore, or any of the girls. We aren't going to listen to you anymore."

"You have made the wrong choice, and now you will suffer the consequences," Tobi watched the rest of the members circle around him, Kisame cutting through Jinsei and Jiro literally as he passed, he grunted in slight disappointment at the sight, "I thought better of you all."

* * *

"_I've had it with this house, this crappy food and my life_," May leaned so far back on her chair that she landed flat on the floor with her knees in the air, "_Wake me up when shit makes sense_."

Tay pushed away the meal she made in disgust, "_Next time you cook then._"

"_Last time I did that __**you**__ were throwing up for most of the night._"

"_That was foul…_"

"_It was supposed to be pork_."

"_It was still really bad_."

"_The point I'm trying to say is I give up_."

Several sharp raps on the door interrupted any further argument the two might've had. Abi, the only one who ate the food without complaint, opened the door thinking it was one of the Akatsuki, but the moment she saw the Konoha shinobi panting heavily she slammed the door shut and locked it tight. This only led to the door to being banged on roughly again. She gave her friends a 'what the hell do I do?' look and received 'I don't know' glances from both. She grabbed a nearby knife before opening the door slightly again, "And you are?"

"We've come to collect you," Neji sounded extremely formal and rushed at the same time, "You need to get back to the village and we're going to take you."

"I don't think we want to go with you."

"We don't have time for arguing…"

"Ah sorry, me speakey no Japanese…" Abi began to shut the door again, waving quickly, "Bye, bye Mr Man."

A black wall of bugs stopped the door from closing completely but didn't pry any further, a calm bored voice rang throughout the entire house, "Tobi has Elle."

The door opened completely and revealed three very pissed off looking girls. Tay was the first to speak, her tone was harsh and unforgiving, "You were supposed to look after her."

"Shikamaru planned it so…"

"Shikamaru huh?" May's face was unreadable but her voice let the group know that their friend was about to be in a lot of trouble, "Let's go."

* * *

Blood splattered gently around the font of what was once the Akatsuki hideout, yet not one drop was from the man causing everyone so much grief. Elle remained curled up behind one of the trees, shaking uncontrollably, wishing she could be useful instead if a scared mess. A roar of pain echoed to her ears, she blocked them so she couldn't distinguish who it was from; she just wanted this whole mess to be over and done with. Salted tears continually dripped their way slowly down her face, she wanted to run but her body had lost the will to even do that, she couldn't control anything no matter how much she willed it.

Muffled voices tried to break through to her covered ears so she pressed harder, she didn't want to hear the pain she was causing the people she had grown to care about so much. Hands clasped her own, making her scream in pure terror, and gently pulled her closer until her head rested in a warm ruffle of clothing.

"Elle…"

She whimpered at the sound of her own name being spoken, the arms wrapped tightly around her and made her feel safe. She cried a little more freely as she clung to the familiar shirt, "Gaara-sama you asshole…"

"I know, I'm sorry for leaving you alone like that," his voice was calm and comforting, he pulled her off the ground and made sure to keep her close to him, "You don't have to cry anymore, we're here now."

She couldn't run, she couldn't hide, she couldn't fight but she could speak, "He's going to kill them…I don't want them to die…please…"

"They'll be fine, breathe, just breathe."

"Please…don't let them…"

"Wait…that was fast…"

"What?!" Elle spun around abut remained trapped in Gaara's arms, eight bloodied and broken Akatsuki members stumbled towards her with the help of many Naruto clones. All the tension that had built up in her body suddenly vanished and she collapsed, though she remained conscious, back into Gaara's chest.

Sakura started healing the many wounds on Itachi, since he was being helped by Sasuke, and sighed softly, "Tobi ran off the minute he saw us all standing there, I guess he got scared."

"He ran from Sasuke and Naruto, they killed him once and they will do it again," Shikamaru reasoned, still upset that his plan didn't work the way he wanted it to, "But I don't think he'll be back until he has a new force behind him, we'll be safe for at least a few months by my guess."

"So we just go back to the village now?"

"I'd assume so."

Gaara swung Elle up into his arms so he could carry her back, despite her quiet protests, and nodded at the group before him, "Let's go home."

* * *

Tsunade bit her tongue to stop her laughter from being audible, for some reason she depicted the foreign girls to bit different. She thought they'd be more threatening looking than this, they looked like nothing more than the teenage kunoichi in her village. They even bickered like the kunoichi in her village…

"JI fjemk iojs, mk!"

"IJ mkm io."

"Mk mk mk mk mk mk."

May shook her head rapidly at her friends before looking at the gate again; she began to pace back and forth. Abi grabbed her arm and sighed, "Kou je hiaa je…"

The sound of returning ninja had the girls on edge; they froze completely and waited for the ninja to enter the village. Tsunade expected them to jump on Elle, hugging and crying with joy at her safety, but instead May and Abi pinned Shikamaru to the wall while Tay pressed her sword to his throat. Tay's voice was surprisingly deep, her eyes locked dead on her target, "If you ever try to use Elle as bait again, we will kill you."

He nodded slowly, eyes wide with surprise and the tiniest bit of fear; the girls released their grip but continued to stare him down like lionesses stalking their prey. All of the Naruto clones began to laugh at the unfortunate shinobi, was well as the entire Akatsuki group and Sakura. The Akatsuki girls didn't laugh; they watched Shikamaru walk off before turning their attention to the girl biting her lip beside Gaara, "ELLE‼"

Elle jumped into her friends and tackled them to the ground, tears running across her giant smile. They soon shared the same expression, tears and smiles, each taking a turn to check over Elle's physical wellbeing. Elle wiped away some of her tears, laughing the whole time, "Mk, mk, I j wnef uh."

"Now that everyone's here should I show you to the hospital?" Tsunade swept her arm across and indicated to the large building in the near distance, "You certainly look like you need it."

"Thank you very much," Pein nodded gratefully, Naruto's clones helping each member move, he put a hand on May's head as he passed by the glop of girls since she was the tallest, "Come on girls, I want to keep you all close by."

"Yes Pein-sama," May linked hands with Abi, who grabbed Elle who grabbed Tay, and led the troupe down the road after the leader.

When they were half way down the road Konan looked over her shoulder looking very confused, "Oh yeah, why are you wearing a maid suit Elle-chan?"

"Ah," blushing yet gain, Elle looked at the ground to avoid the curious gazes of her friends, "That is a very complicated explanation caused by a series of events involving me being chased by a pyscho pink haired crazy woman and living with a bunch of smelly teenage boys."

"What?"

"Tell you later."


	31. Chapter 30

"_Do it Elle_."

"_I'm not going to, never ever, ever, ever!_"

"_But you're the only one they'll talk to_."

"_WHOSE FAULT IS THAT?_"

Tay slung her arm over Elle's shoulder and gave her best 'pretty please' look, "_This is for the others, not us, you have to do it._"

"_But I hate her…_"

"_And you're the only one who can cook_."

"_Fine,_" Elle gave into the peer pressure of her 'friends' and slowly crept her way over to where the Konoha kunoichi and Temari stood chatting, they were in the training grounds waiting for the boys to finish training for the day, she tapped Sakura on the shoulder and rubbed her arm slowly, "Um…Sakura-chan?"

Sakura was cautious, Elle never talked to her because she got a bit carried away with how cute she thought Elle was, and it didn't help that she thought it was adorable that Elle was blushing lightly, "What is it?"

"Can...ah…can you show me how to cook some traditional Japanese meals?"

"You want me to show you how to cook?"

"Yes please…"

"Aw, Elle-chan," Sakura squeezed the girl and swung her round to face the rest of her friends, "Isn't she just the cutest little thing?"

Ino nodded in agreement and began to pat Elle's slightly fuming head, "She is really cute."

"She's like a teddy bear."

"Can you just show me how to cook some stuff…"

"Hey," Hinata smiled happily, she was finally taller than someone, "So you think we could give her a makeover, like a doll?"

"That's it, NO!" Elle started to squirm away but Sakura's grasp was too strong, she looked like a small child trying to run away from her overly affectionate mother, "NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, I can't do it‼ MAY HELP ME‼"

"So cute, so cute, so cute…"

"MAYY‼

Out in the distance the other Akatsuki girls were rolling on the ground, crying out their laughter. They already had recipes for Elle to use, they just wanted to see why Elle hated Sakura so much, and the scene before them was so worth the beating they were going to get later.

* * *

"I actually feel sorry for the girl," Kiba chucked lightly as he watched Elle try to beat Sakura away unsuccessfully, "I never guessed Sakura could be so possessive."

Lee smiled, nothing but good things to say about the cherry blossom, "She is a caring woman, she will make an excellent wife one day. Just look at her parenting skills…"

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU CRAZY BITCH."

"…she is truly something."

"Lee you need to get your head checked," Neji was blunt with his teammate, he believed Lee could do better than a girl who didn't really notice him, "Now are we finished or are we going to train some more?"

"I believe we are finished, shall we go get some lunch?"

"Finally…"

"Hey guys, we're finished now," Naruto was always good at stating the obvious, he shrugged and pointed out of the grounds, "Where do you want to go for lunch?"

Sakura squeaked and pulled Elle closer, "I can go make us something if you want."

"Ah Sakura, can we have our friend back?" May indicated to the small girl in her arms, biting back the laughter that threatened to escape from her throat, "She needs to start cooking."

"I thought I was gonna help her."

"We've actually got some recipes for her to follow thanks."

Elle face fell, a deadly warning lay waiting in her eyes as Sakura let her go, "What?"

"Yeah, Abi found some and got them written out in English…"

"May."

"Yeah."

"I'm going to kill you all."

"Ah," May waved then started running as fast as she could, dragging her friends along behind her. Their laughter echoed clearly even as their bodies disappeared into the distance.

Elle cracked her knuckles and was about to go after them when Temari tripped her up, the Sand kunoichi was curious, "What are you cooking for?"

"The others are coming home today, we're going to cook them a huge 'welcome back' feast, or more like I am," Elle grumbled and rubbed her sore nose as she answered Temari, she checked quickly for blood before brushing it off casually, "I couldn't find a recipe that I could read so the others convinced me to ask Sakura, and now I'm going to kill them."

"Yeah I heard that part."

"So can I leave now or are you going to trip me up again?"

"You're free to go."

Elle grunted and took off down the road, it took her half the time the others took to get down the road and out of sight. Kiba let out a low whistle as soon as he was certain she was well out of sight, "Those girls are something else."

Ten-Ten folded her arms unhappily, she never got a whistle like that before, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm not blind, those are some very good looking kunoichi. Hey Gaara, is it true you and Elle were supposed to get married or something."

"That was just a mission," Gaara sighed and adjusted his gourd slightly, "That's all in the past now, we're trying to forget about that and start over."

"You should've locked her down when you had a chance, now if you want another go at her you've got some work ahead of you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing, anyway I bags Abi."

Shino snorted in laughter, "Like she'd fall for you."

"You think you got a better chance bug boy?"

"Greater one than you."

"You're on."

* * *

Deidara breathed out a serene sigh and smiled to himself, he couldn't remember the last time he had felt so at peace. That was before Tay burst through the door and dived under his bed. Elle stood in the doorway moments after and frantically looked around the room, "Did Tay come in here?"

"No…should she have un?"

"Never mind, if she comes by tell her I'm going to murder her."

"Sure thing," he waved softly as Elle left just as quickly as she arrived, he shook his head and looked down the other side of his bed, "What did you do now un?"

Tay's head popped out and smiled cheekily up at him, "We just had a little fun is all, she's overreacting."

"I'm sure it's all her fault un."

"I knew you'd understand."

"Tay, come here," Deidara patted a spot next to him on the bed so they faced each other. She sat in the offered space and he gently pulled her closer then looked directly into her eyes, "I'm so glad you're safe, I don't think you realise how worried I was…"

"Deidara, can I interrupt you?"

"You just did un."

"Please listen to me," she was dead serious, Deidara hadn't seen her like this before; tense with her hands clasped together in her lap and was staring at them, "I'm really sorry that I didn't listen to you, you told me to stay away from Tobi but I didn't and now you're all beat up again because of it. I want to know what I can do to make it up to you."

He sighed and stroked her cheek softly, "You don't have to do anything, none of this is your fault un."

"I want to do something, please."

"I don't want anything from you…"

"I'm not taking no for an answer."

"Geez," Deidara sighed and leaned back in his bed, he always thought Tay was a push over but now he was having second thoughts, "Why aren't you bugging the others for forgiveness too un?"

"I… I just," Tay fumbled over her words, "I just felt like I needed to talk to you first because..."

Tay paused uncomfortably for what felt like an awkward 5 minutes and bit her lip.

Deidara tried to finish her sentence, "Because I told you not to get close to him, un?"

The young ninja scratched her neck, looking away from the blonde male, "No, it's because, because I...like...you the most."

"Just so you know, this is all your fault Tay un," Deidara smiled to himself, understanding what she didn't.

"Huh?"

Deidara cupped her faced and leaned his forehead on her, she stared back at him with an expression of pure shock, he smirked and pressed his lips softly against hers. He couldn't stop his smirk from growing wider the moment he felt her press back shyly, she was kissing him back willingly. Tay slowly reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, gratefully accepting the new step in their relationship with butterflies flittering all through her body. Eventually Deidara pulled away so he could look at the blushing girl before him, "Do you want to be my girlfriend, un?"

Tay glanced at him then away again. The kiss with Tobi felt different, there was nothing; it felt cold and lonely, but this was different. Tay actually felt happy to be with Deidara, it wasn't all a fuzz or a forgotten dream where she was flying on her own delusions; she felt clear headed.

"Yes, I'll be your girlfriend," she smiled to herself, " the others are waiting for me, so I should really be going."

Deidara kissed her quickly then smiled, "Ok, promise you'll visit me again un."

Tay nodded as she stood, "I'll come by. Soon."

The door closed behind her leaving the word hanging in the air. Deidara shielded his eyes from the non-existent bright light to hide his embarrassment but secretly was looking forward to seeing his girlfriend. Soon.

"It's all your fault," he mumbled to himself out loud.

* * *

"Girls, this is really something else," Konan gathered the four in a small group so she could hug them all at once, "Thank you so much."

"It's okay Konan-san," the four chorused, it really did make them happy to see everyone together and smiling from pure enjoyment. They were all chatting pleasantly and eating the home cooked meals ravenously. Hospital food is horrible no matter what world it is made in. Eventually, Konan let go of the girls so they could breathe again. May rubbed her sore neck softly, "We really didn't do much."

"I know," Konan smiled cheekily at them before bowing to Elle, "Thank you for all your hard work Elle-chan."

"You're welcome Konan-san."

Tay kicked at the carpet and pouted, "We totally helped."

"Who cares?" Hidan scoffed down the last of the dangos and groaned happily, "I missed food so fucking much. You need to start cooking more."

Itachi chuckled lightly and sipped at his Sake, "You girls certainly did well, however I'm not sure I want to know how you got the Sake…"

"Kakashi Sensei got it," Abi smirked lightly, of course Itachi was going to question how they got the alcohol, "We didn't get it illegally if that's what you think."

"I wasn't thinking anything like that…I was just curious."

"Sure thing Onii-san."

"And you're supposed to be healing up, so put the alcohol down!" Konan scowled like she was growling a child for snacking before dinner.

A knock on the door warned the party goers that more visitors had arrived before Itachi could explain to Konan why sake was important to the healing process. Upon being opened, the door revealed the Konoha and Suna shinobi that the Akatsuki had once called enemies but now they bore small packages, welcome gifts, to the new villagers. Of course, Itachi welcomed them in, seeing his brother was leading the group, "Please come in, there is plenty of food and drink for everyone."

The new party guests mumbled a thank you as they entered one by one. They didn't even bother to hide the fact they were ordered to come to the party. As quickly as they had arrived, they had dispersed into small groups and talked amongst themselves, only the conversing Uchihas showed any form of a true alliance. Naruto made attempts to try and talk to the Akatsuki members but a random Konoha or Suna ninja would drag him into a long nostalgic conversation that Naruto was too polite to escape from. Shikamaru hid the furthest away in a corner, not wanting to face any of the Akatsuki after the small threat he received from the three girls. He knew that it would be a while before he could even try to talk to them, that's if he actually wanted to. Pein quietly walked over to Naruto, after Kankuro got bored of distracting the blonde energy ball, and tapped him lightly on the shoulder, a few quiet words were shared before he walked out the door and quietly out of sight.

May sighed, she knew what was going on and personally thought it was a waste of time but none the less she respected it; they deserved it after all this and she was happy for them. It's going to be a spectacular event and May had never been to one, so it'll be something new to observe and experience. A hand clamped down onto her shoulder, scratching the unconsciously made smile off her face, and, as coolly as possible, she turned to face the icy smirk daggering from the Copy Ninja of Konoha.

"Hello again May-san."

"Hatake-sama," she nodded in a gritted greeting, purposely using the incorrect title for the man before her, "What do I owe the…pleasure…of your company?"

"Can I not converse amongst neighbours?"

"Not unless you want something."

"You're a smart girl May-san," he chuckled lightly but mirthlessly and picked up a drink that he never intended to even smell, let alone drink, "Make sure not to lose that fine wit of yours."

May cringed a smile, "Oh, I won't."

He moved off without another word. Tay began to laugh hysterically and handed her the cup of juice she asked for, "_Man, you guys hate each other. If the tension got any higher, the room would have blown up!_"

"_Tell me something I don't know and Pein's back_."

"May I have everyone's attention please," Pein tapped his cup traditionally to quieten down everybody. The orange haired man unnecessarily cleared his throat, internally nervous about the silence that he'd called for, "I just want to thank the shinobi of this village for welcoming us so…kindly. I hope that we can forget the regrettable past for we have all made mistakes and done what needs to be done to bring our villages to a brighter place, to ensure the safety of those we love and hold close. We did things that we are not proud of, and I, on the behalf of the Akatsuki present, am deeply, deeply sorry even though we know that you all will most likely not accept this apology or consider it some kind of sham but we all wish to start a new and build our lives here towards a new found peaceful future," a small round of claps and grunts of agreement sounded through the room but it was not an encouraging reaction that Pein had hoped for and continued awkwardly, "I want to move away from my past and towards this peaceful future with someone very dear who has my heart, Konan, could you come up?"

The woman moved to Pein's side, confused about what had come over Pein. He, intentionally, held onto her hands so they faced each other, being sure to slip on the ring he had just gone out to collect from its hiding place.

"Will you be my wife?"

Much to the non-Akatsuki's surprise, Konan squealed ecstatically and began to kiss every piercing all over Pein's face, "Yes, yes, yes, yes. Of course I will."

Kakashi raised his glass, genuinely and sincerely with a small goofy smile, "To the happy couple."

"To the happy couple‼" the crowd echoed and cheered, their voices ringing out through the joyous home.


	32. Chapter 31

**A.N. Shout out to my homie Omigesh for always reviewing and just plain making my day and to everyone who decided to follow my story. IT MEAN SO MUCH TO KNOW THAT PEOPLE LIKE WHAT I AM WRITING :) 3**

* * *

"_We're going to the chapel and we're gonna get married, we're going to the chapel and we're gonna go get married,_" Elle sung happily to herself as Itachi took the girls to the training grounds so they could find out what other strange abilities the girls had, "_Gee I really love you and we're gonna get married, going to the chapel of love._"

Itachi chuckled lightly and bent forwards so he could make eye contact with the small girl, "Cute song, make it yourself?"

"Na I think it was The Crystals."

"Who?"

"Don't worry Onii-san," Elle shook her head with a sweet smile and asked, "anyway how far to the training grounds?"

"They're just up ahead," he straightened up again and looked back at the four of them. He knew that all the girls could completely hide their chakra which was strange enough on its own as they have had no training in that area and yet they can't be sensed by anyone even someone of a Jounin level. However, as of late, other 'strange abilities' have come to his attention like those of Tay and May. Tay had a strange ability involving water chakra or Jutsu when she swung her sword in a certain manner which, under normal circumstances, should have taken years of training to get to the level that she was now at. Then May could use all five elements in her Ninjutsu like it was nothing is another impossibility, the fact she could do it meant that she had no base element chakra and impossibly powerful. They were strange creatures indeed.

May groaned notably as the small group finally reached the grounds, "You totally knew about this didn't you Itachi?"

"What are you talking about May-chan?"

"Don't play stupid."

"Why look its Sasuke's team?" Itachi gracefully walked over to his younger brother's team, nodding at the jounin and placing a happy hand on the other Uchiha's shoulder, "Hello Otouto, what a coincidence this is."

"_Coincidence my ass_."

"How is the training, Kakashi Sensei?" Itachi ignored May's complaint completely.

The silver haired jounin nodded politely and shook Itachi's hand, "Everything is well Itachi-san, as usual. We can leave if you want the grounds to yourselves."

"That's not necessary since we won't be needing much space; we're just trying out a few different things. Don't let us stop you from training."

"Well, we're taking a break at the moment so it's all yours," Kakashi swept his arm to motion at the free grounds, "Just pretend we're not here."

Itachi nodded and grabbed the grumpy shoulder of May, leading the four girls over to the other side of the training grounds. He crossed his arms patiently once they arrived and looked carefully over the girls, "So, whose first?"

"May."

"May's first."

"I choose May."

The girls were all looking at May grinning brightly as the black haired girl scowled back.

"I hate you all," the chosen volunteer muttered under her breath but loud enough to be heard and stepped forward, "What do you want me to do Itachi-san?"

"Well, I've actually guessed what's strange with you, and Tay for that matter, so it's mainly just the other two."

"I pick Abi," Elle piped up.

"Na-uh, Elle is so first," May rebutted, trying to have a small piece of childish payback in her best friend.

"No arguing. We don't have all day," Itachi sighed softly, he should have expected this but somehow didn't, "Elle you can spar with May and Abi with Tay, I will observe from here."

Elle raised her hand like a student at school, "Can I have Tay? I don't like May."

"Shut up idiot," May threw a fist at her smallest friend, who dodged it easily, and began to chase her around the grounds, "You know, it isn't much of a fight if you run away‼"

"Not my fault you're so slow," Elle laughed as she bolted down the field.

Tay drew her sword and dropped down into a simple fighting stance a few metres away from a calm Abi. They both ignored the shenanigans of their other friends and focused on the friend opposite them, both waiting for the other to make the first move. Tay swung her sword and trailed it across the dirt ground as Abi simply stood perfectly still with a growing smile on her face.

Tay gave a quiet squeak and fell to the ground; Abi grinned triumphantly and gave Itachi a thumbs up, "Genjutsu!"

"Abi." Itachi rubbed his temples slowly, "What am I going to do with you?"

"What did I do?"

"It doesn't matter."

"You're blue now."

"I'm not, you haven't disappointed me or anything it's just-"

"No you're blue. B, L, U, E, blue!" Abi sighed and began to wave her arms in a futile explanation about colour, "Before you were orange, and now you're blue. You're going to turn green, teal and yellow now."

"Hn?"

"There it is."

Itachi motioned her over, curious about why he was so many different colours, and lightly clasped her shoulders in an attempt to stop the distracting hand movements, "Why-"

"Are you so many different colours? Because you're curious or confused," Abi smirked and patted his shocked head, "I've already figured it out. I think it's chakra, but don't quote me on that, and the different colours are the different emotions people feel. The reason I was able to take down Tay so easily was because I could see her chakra moving to her arm, and to her sword, so I aimed my Genjutsu at her eyes where the colour was weakest and BOOM, she's out like a light."

"That is... it really is something Abi. When did you figure this out?"

"Ah, just after we killed Zetsu I figured it out, until then the colours were just kind of blurs behind and around people."

"Kami." Itachi let her go and rubbed his temples once more; Abi could see chakra and read what people were going to do before they had even done it. She also figured out to aim her Genjutsu at where the chakra was weakest within her opponent. She was by far the strangest.

* * *

Sighing happily, Konan stared at the ring on her hand once more; she began to wish that she had more friends to celebrate with. She bustled gently through the crowds with her shopping, she had brought some new dresses for the girls, and she couldn't wait to see how they looked in them. Lately Konan had found a joy in treating the girls, she wanted them to truly call this world home. She wanted them to want to stay.

"Pein, I'm back now."

"Konan, you have great timing," Pein slid his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek softly, he showed her a calendar that he had hung on the wall, "Look at the date."

"Hm? I don't see anything."

"Look closely."

"Oh my! Already?!"

"Yes, how the time flies."

"It's only a few days away, what are we going to do?"

"We'll have to discuss it with the others, get their opinion."

Konan sighed and put the bags on the table, "The New Year's Festival. It's been so long."

* * *

"Go away, you're creepy."

"Respect your elders boy."

Gaara growled lightly. Sasori had been following his brother around ever since he had been released from hospital and now it was starting to get on the Kazekage's nerves. He faced the older puppet master and bared his teeth, "Respect your superiors."

"A lesson you will do well to learn."

"SASORI-SAN‼" a yell out of nowhere followed suddenly by two girls crashing into the smart mouth and pushing him onto the ground, making the shinobi from Suna smirk. May was first to turn to them and bow deeply, "We're so sorry for his rudeness Kazekage-sama."

This only served to make Gaara's smirk widen, "Your apologizes are accepted, I believe now he will think twice before speaking out of turn."

"Damn right he will," Elle ground the heel of her foot into the puppet man's back, he grunted softly at the pain, while her other foot pushed his head into the ground, "He can't lecture us about being nice to these people and then turn around and do the opposite. Jjis ji _ass_ hie."

Kankuro was clearly confused, "What the hell did she just say?"

"I caught ass but that was about it," Gaara turned on himself and began to walk away, bored with the scene now, "It's been a while after all."

"You remembered!"

"Huh?"

Elle bounced off Sasori and right up to the confused Kage, "You remembered some of the things I taught you."

"Of course I did, _I'm Gaara of the Dessert_."

"You said dessert again," Elle bubbly giggled, light bulb flickering on in her head, "Hey, if you want I can teach you some more."

"Really?"

"Sure!"

"No you don't, we're supposed to be training," May grabbed the girl by the shirt and pulled her back roughly, "The only reason we're here is because you ran off and I chased you. We're going back now."

"May you suck balls, Kakashi balls."

"In your dreams."

"Why would I dream of that?"

"Sorry, automatic response, but still in your dreams," May slowly began to walk off while Elle made gagging sounds behind her, "Bye-bye Kazekage-sama, bye Kankuro-san. Bye Sasori-san, see you at home. Say goodbye Elle."

"I'm going to kill you in your sleep."

"_Go_ hude _Gaara_ hd asj _balls_."

"Je jif u ems, _pervert_."

Kankuro began to laugh at the new expression on his brother's face, it was a cross between a snarl, a blush and utter shock, "What the hell did they say?"

"From what I gathered, May's a pervert who wants Elle to do something with my balls."

"Well whatever it is, don't let her, I don't trust any of the Akatsuki and especially Elle."

"Asshole."

Kankuro jumped at the sound of the new voice, Elle stood behind him with arms folded and a scowl on her face, he glared at her, "How the hell?"

"Kawarimi no _Jutsu_, beatch," Elle pushed past him and smiled at Gaara, "May tried to drag me away before I could finish. I'm really sorry about Suna but if you really want me to teach you more English just name the time and place and I'll meet you there."

"You're going home," Sasori grabbed onto her arm and pulled the girl over. He wanted to get closer to the Sand siblings because Kankuro was an extremely talented puppeteer but that didn't mean he wanted Elle to get close to them. Mainly because they were boys, **teenage** boys, and he still thought she was too young to be dating.

Elle had obviously forgotten he was there but that didn't stop her from being mad at him, "I'm trying to make friends jerk, you're such a hypocrite."

"You're too young to be hanging out with boys, go make friends with Sakura or someone."

"I'm seventeen Mr Puppetman."

"Elle-chan," Gaara stopped the argument with a single word, he smiled genuinely at her and bowed gently, "I would be honoured to have you teach me." He held out his hand to her, she shook it in response, making his smile grow by the tiniest fraction, "We'll have to arrange a time that best suits everyone."

Sasori growled softly and threw her over his shoulder, "Later, we're going home **now**."

Kankuro scoffed at his younger brother once the two Akatsuki were well out of sight, "She doesn't mean it Gaara, and you're only going to get hurt again."

"Kankuro, I believe everyone deserves a second chance. This, this is hers. I know you don't like her but please trust me on this, I believe she's trying to make amends."

"I'm only allowing this because you're right, everyone deserves a second chance."

"Thank you onii-san."

"No worries otouto."

* * *

May stared angrily at the door, contemplating all the ways she could destroy Elle, while turning a kunai slowly in her hands. Kakuzu took the weapon off her and plonked a heavy hand on her head, "Stop pouting already, just think of it as a mistake you won't make again."

"I can't believe I fell for such a stupid trick."

"Learn from it and it **won't** happen again."

The door clicked open and Sasori carried in a swearing Elle, he dumped her in the chair beside May and stared her down, "You're too young to be flirting."

"You need to learn the difference between flirting and being friendly. _Stupid puppet wielding asshole_."

Abi bit her lip to stop the laughter, she couldn't picture Elle flirting with anyone, "What happened exactly?"

"I told Gaara-sama that I would continue to teach him English if he wanted me to," Elle faced the smirking blonde with a pout stuck on her small face, "And now Sasori-douche thinks that I'm flirting with any boy I look at."

"Of course."

"Never mind any of that, we have other matters to discuss," Pein stood between Sasori and Elle as a silent warning. Everyone went silent, not daring to even breathe unless they were told to, Pein looked over everyone as the gathered in the front room of the house, he looked seriously at them, "The New Year's Festival is in a few days and we need to figure out what we're doing."

Tay tilted her head in confusion, "A festival for the New Year?"

"Yes."

"Why do we have to talk about that? Is it dangerous?"

"No, not really, we just aren't sure about what we're going to do on the day." Pein's greatest fear was Tobi; he didn't want to take any risks.

"Can we go please?"

"What?"

Elle squeaked and jumped over to where Tay was, "We've never been, can we please go Pein-sama?"

Konan bit her lip softly out of pity, "You've never been?"

"No, we don't celebrate the New Year's too much where we're from," May joined her friends who were still squeaking behind her, "but we've always wanted to go to one."

The four girls were now looking very excited and bouncing up and down with pleading faces. This was the moment everyone in the Akatsuki knew they had gotten soft for the girls; they couldn't help but think they were too cute to say no to. The girls were bound to figure out that the Akatsuki couldn't say no to them soon enough. Pein covered his eyes to try and stop himself from saying yes but the image remained with him, "There will be a few conditions when we go." was the best he managed.

The girls stopped bouncing and nodded, looking at him with expectant gleaming eyes.

"None of you are allowed to be left alone; you have to stay together at all times. You can only wander off if one of us is with you or there are at least two of the others with you. You are not allowed to go off with any of the other shinobi unless it is Sasuke or Naruto," he knew that those two would look after the girls if they got lost, "And if we say we are meeting back her by twelve, you **will** be back here before the clock hits twelve."

"Yes Pein-sama‼"

"In that case, we're going to the festival."


	33. Chapter 32

Rustling fabric mingled softly with quiet giggles as all the girls in the Akatsuki got ready for the New Year's festival. Excitement ran high as it was the four girls' first ever festival but the men were starting to feel on edge about waiting.

"Hurry the fuck up. You bitches are taking too long."

"You're speaking to my fiancé," Pein warned as he stood over the silver haired man, "Watch your tongue."

"Yeah, yeah."

Each of the men had specifically design yukatas, it was the basic design that was black with a red sash, small clouds of red lined the very bottom hem of the outfit. It was no wonder that some of the young kunoichi had hidden outside to see the men, each of them looked wondrous in their own individual way. Eventually the door opened and Konan walked out, she was wearing the same as the men but her feminine face seemed to give it a whole new look even though she looked like the others, "We're ready now."

"Finally."

Pein punched the back of Hidan's head and smiled lovingly at his soon to be bride, "How are the girls?"

Right on cue the four girls followed Konan out of the room, they were each wearing a kimono similar to the one Elle wore on their trip to Suna, and they smiled happily at Pein who nodded approval. The girls truly had the strong physic of ninja now. May had a curvy build, made from the long hours of different Ninjutsu she had grown so fond of. Abi's eyes shone cunningly, the Genjutsu she had nearly mastered made some of the native kunoichi jealous of her shining eyes. Tay had strong arms from her Kenjutsu; her body had changed the most as it became a lot more feminine with strong arm muscles. Elle had all the grace and flow she gained from Taijutsu, she was still by far the tiniest and the kimono made her look like a doll with her physic only just starting to show. All the months of hard work were finally showing through and combined with their individual beauty form the other world made these girls the envy of many of the natives. Pein wrapped his arms around Konan and smiled softly at the girls, "Please don't split from the group, some of the shinobi out there aren't used to seeing girls like you."

May frowned as she received confused glances from her friends, "What do you mean?"

"Never mind," the girls didn't realise how beautiful they had become, "Let's go."

* * *

Sakura spun around happily in her soft pink kimono and gave Sasuke her best seductive look, "Where should we go first Sasuke-kun?"

"I'm going to meet with Itachi."

She frowned at his lack of interest in her, "So we can't hang out as a team? Kakashi Sensei even said he was going to meet up with us eventually."

Sasuke gave her a look that purely said 'I don't give a shit'; "I'm going to find my brother, come or go as you please."

"You're such a downer Teme," Naruto sighed; he was wearing a soft blue yukata while Sasuke's was dark blue, "Besides don't you have a thing for Itachi Sakura-chan?"

"No way," she turned pinker that her kimono, "If I had to pick anyone in that group I would probably go for Deidara, it's just something about him that gets me."

"I really didn't want to hear that."

"Then why did you ask? Moron."

"Is it because he's blonde?"

"No."

Naruto sighed defeat, there was just no winning with his female teammate. Sasuke grumbled at how loud is friends were being, he would have ditched them had he not promised Itachi that he would bring them along. His brother seemed intent on knowing all of Sasuke's friends in the village. He looked over at a depressed Naruto and a slightly smirking Sakura, "Come on, if you fall behind I'm leaving you there."

"Coming Sasuke-kun."

"Yeah, yeah Teme I'm coming."

* * *

"Hey, hey, hey," Elle jumped up and down, waving the skewer of chicken around in fascination, "What's this one?"

"Yakitori," Sasori sighed happily, she had been eating more food than any of the fully grown men there, "Would you please just eat it?"

"OKAY!"

May laughed happily as her small friend ate her yakitori quite contently, "The only way to keep Elle-chan quiet is to feed her. I learnt that a while ago."

Elle swallowed the last of her chicken and pointed at another stand, "What's that one?"

"Elle don't run off," Konan scolded the girl and grabbed her arm before she could run off, she never thought she had mother instinct and right now it excited her, "Stay with the group, okay?"

"Okay Konan-san."

Deidara dangled his arm over Tay's shoulders as they walked behind the rest of the Akatsuki. They hadn't told anyone that they were a couple yet mainly because Pein would make sure they weren't left alone in any room of the house. He softly kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear, "You wanna get out of here un?"

"You're not going to do anything weird are you?"

"Not until you're ready un."

"Then what are we waiting for?" she removed his arm but only so she could hold his hand, "Lead the way."

He chuckled lightly and pulled her away from the group and into the mass of crowd that surrounded them. No one realised they had even disappeared. Itachi scanned crowds until he saw his younger brother heading towards them with his teammates, Pein noticed it also and leaned in close to Itachi's ear, "Can you take the girls with you, I need some alone time with Konan."

"We can meet in the training grounds for the fireworks."

"Sounds like a plan, see you there."

"Come on girls," Itachi led the three away, quickly scanning over for the fourth one, "Where's Tay-chan?"

"Probably off screwing some random, I don't know," Elle was always the first to brush off anything concerning her friends, "I'm still hungry."

"We should look for her…"

"She'll be fine, she went for a walk with Deidara-san," Abi smiled gently, she had heard Tay talking in her sleep the other night about 'Deidara so cute' when she went to check on everyone before she fell asleep herself, "I don't think she likes the crowds too much."

"Alright then," Itachi smiled as his younger brother reached them, he immediately pulled Sasuke in for a hug, "How have you been otouto?"

"Just fine Itachi."

"That's good."

"You can let go now…" Sasuke was embarrassed for the first time in many years at his brother's affection, especially when the people around and blushes brushed across their faces, but he was happy at the same time, "I'm not going anywhere."

"I hope you don't mind too much but the girls will be joining us, we're all meeting in the training grounds for the fireworks though."

"I don't mind at all," he minded a lot, "We can join you there."

Sakura smiled at the scene before turning her attention to her favourite toy, "Elle-chan…"

"Fuck off."

"You're so cute!"

* * *

"This festival totally blows," Kankuro complained again and leaned against the fishing stall while his sister and her boyfriend played about, "It's so boring."

Temari giggled as Shikamaru dropped his fish, "Stop complaining and just leave already, or just do what Gaara is doing and not say anything at all."

"Yeah, why are you so quiet?"

Gaara tilted his head as he saw Deidara walk briskly through the crowds, dragging a giggling Tay along behind him, "Have you noticed that the Akatsuki is out? And not just one or two members but the whole group?"

"Who cares? We're allies now so they're not going to cause any trouble."

Temari scooped up her fish and started to leave, hand in hand with the slightly smiling Nara, "Why don't you two just go hang out with someone else? You're starting to bug the hell out of me."

Kankuro grunted and waved off his older sibling, "Ah we don't need you, Gaara and I can hang out together right Gaara?"

"Sure."

"Good," she waved from the distance and smiled brightly at her two younger brothers, "See you at home."

"Heh, women."

Gaara looked at the twinkling sky…women…the subject had been bugging him for a while. He never really understood emotions, especially when it came to women, but he wanted to understand, "I need advice."

"Huh?"

"I need advice about women."

"Women or woman?"

"Woman."

"Okay…" Kankuro knew just as much about giving advice as Gaara did about…women…"What do you want to know exactly?"

"I'm not sure."

"I can't really help you much then."

"Well…" Gaara shuffled nervously, an unknown feeling for him, and played with the sleeve of his yukata, "I think I've finally become friends with this girl, but I can't help but feel like I want…more…is that normal?"

Kankuro roared with laughter, Gaara could be very naïve at times, "It's perfectly normal Gaara, the answer is really quite simple, you've got to kiss this girl."

"Kiss her?"

"You've seen Temari with Shikamaru enough times, stuff like that."

"You mean like all those girls you bring into your room after sucking their face and then you make the strangest sounds, they're like groans or moans…"

"Ah…stuff like that comes later on in a relationship…"

"But you don't even know their names…"

"Enough about me!" Blood threatened to drip form Kankuro's nose as he remembered some of his exploits, most of which he didn't know that Gaara was in the house for, "You're in a different scenario, first off who is the girl?"

Gaara looked at the ground, "Someone you aren't particularly fond of…"

He knew immediately. Kankuro sighed and scratched the back of his head, "My advice with her would be to kiss her tonight, try to get her as far away from her friends as possible and basically just kiss her."

"That's it?"

"Well, if she kisses you back then you can come back for more advice. If she doesn't, I'd run for your life."

"Thank you."

"Now you just have to find her," Kankuro began to dive up and down, searching for the girl, "Come out, come out where ever you are you little bitch."

Gaara scanned his eyes too over the crowd, something about the thought of kissing her excited him. He wanted to know more about these feelings and their meanings, he really wanted it even though he didn't understand why.

* * *

Deidara ran his tongue along the top of Tay's lip until she opened her mouth to let him explore it. It wasn't often they got to spend time alone but when they did Deidara took full advantage of it. Tay moaned softly as his experienced tongue dominated her mouth. She didn't know how she fell for Tobi when Deidara was so much better. Eventually he pulled away for air but Tay pulled his face back down for another kiss, he chuckled lightly and pecked her softly, "Someone is needy un."

Tay giggled and kissed him again, "You are not one to talk, you want this too right?"

"Of course I do," he held her tighter, easing any doubt that he was using her, "Please don't ever doubt yourself like that again un."

"Okay," she snuggled into his warm chest and matched their breathing so it was even, "Where do you want to go now?"

"I'm happy here, with you un."

"I'm happy too."

They shared the small moment of alone time they cherished so dearly, they knew that the others were going to be shocked when they found out about the couple but that was something to worry about later. Tay sighed happily before staring up at her man, "Should we go home then?"

"You'll miss the fireworks un."

"Fireworks?"

"Yeah."

"Lead the way," she started pushing him back into the crowds, "Go, go, go."

"Okay, okay," Deidara laughed and began to lead the way back into the mass of crowds so they could find the others for the fireworks, "You're so needy un."

* * *

Twinkling skies had grown dull and boring, causing May to sigh to herself. There were many different stalls and stands all around the colourfully lit streets but nothing interested her anymore, right now she just needed to get away, "When can we go to the training grounds already? We're getting tired of just walking around Itachi-kun."

"Right," he nodded momentarily, he honestly had completely lost all sense of everything when he had started talking to Sasuke, he indicated towards the road leading to the training grounds, "Start heading that way, I'll catch up with you three soon."

May sighed defeat, there really was no talking to Itachi when Sasuke was involved. She started walking, her friends following close behind, as an idea slowly started to creep into evil little mind, "_We're no longer supervised_."

Abi clicked suddenly and smiled as evilly as May was thinking, Elle however missed the click, "_I'm lost._"

"_You are really slow Elle…okay, we're no longer supervised right?_"

"_Yeah…_"

"_So we can do whatever we want to._"

"_I don't get it_."

"_Elle…_" May sighed slowly, she really wished that her friend would use her own brain a little bit more than she currently did, "_…you really are hopeless_."

"_Are you guys going to do something bad?_"

Abi grabbed Elle's hand and led her to a small bench, she pushed the girl down and handed her a couple pieces of metal that were tied together, "_Try and get those undone while May and I go off for a bit, okay?_"

"_Okay_…"

Abi ran back to May, she reached into her kimono and pulled out a small bag containing all sorts of ninja tools she had swiped from the others earlier that day, "_Shall we go have some fun?_"

May giggled like a small child, she pulled out a bag of her own as well as a scroll containing the location of the houses which homed the students of the man she loathed so much, "_Who do we start with first?_"

"_Sakura's looks the furthest, we can work our way back to the festival if we start there._"

"_And away we go_."

* * *

Gaara smiled inwardly as he watched May and Abi run off to cause all kinds of trouble, they had left Elle alone which meant he could finally put Kankuro's advice into action. He had been waiting for the right moment since he spotted her with Team Kakashi a while ago and now he had the perfect opportunity. He quietly slid his way through the crowds until he stood directly in front of her, "Are you okay Elle-chan?"

"Huh?" she looked at the Kage dressed in a pure white yukata with the same colour sash as his hair, she blushed softly and smiled up at him, "I got lost."

"I see that, where are your friends?"

"Somewhere in the crowd, I don't know where they disappeared to."

He sat down beside her and looked at the object she had been fiddling with, "What is that?"

"Just some scrap metal, it doesn't really matter," she put the object into her sleeve before smiling back at him, "Anyway, I thought you'd be with your family, not wandering around alone."

"They both have dates for tonight, I decided to leave them alone."

"That's really sweet."

"Ah, thank you…"

Gaara looked away from her, he felt suddenly shy and didn't know what to say. He wanted to kiss her, like Kankuro had told him to, but he didn't feel like it was the right moment. He sighed to himself, he really didn't understand what he was supposed to be doing. Elle noticed his distress and put her hand on his, "Is everything okay Gaara-sama?"

He stared curiously at the hand that covered part of his, "You're so small…"

"Huh?"

"Look.." he pressed her palm flatly against his, her fingers were nowhere near reaching up to his, "Your hands are so much smaller than mine."

"I'm not small…" Gaara was about to apologize when he saw a strange expression on her face, she was looking away from him blushing and pouting but it didn't look like she was mad at him. She looked back at him like she was trying to prove a point, "I'm not small, I'm petite."

He let a chuckle escape his throat, he intertwined their fingers and pulled Elle out of the seat, "Come on, I'll buy you something to eat."

She giggled and gave his hand a playful squeeze, but didn't let it go, "I can't say no to the Kazekage."

* * *

Two figures leapt down from the Haruno house fence without a sound and walked calmly in the shadows of the empty street. Once they were well away from the estate, mischievous giggling erupted and enveloped the street as the teenagers made their way to the next location.

"_We are going to be in sooo much trouble_," Abi breathed out audibly, catching her breath from laughing too much.

"_That's only if we get caught_," May dabbed her finger in the air towards her accomplice with a nod.

"_Which we won't_."

The girls grinned brightly and high-fived each other. It had been a while since they had been left to their own devices to wreak havoc of a much more sneaky kind. May missed doing this kind of thing but she could never decide what was more fun; the planning or watching the aftermath. One thing she did decide though was revenge was sweet…

…so very, very sweet…

* * *

A pitch black house greeted the two senseis when they stopped at the designated meeting place of Naruto and Sasuke's apartment. Kakashi leant against the wall, trying to read his Icha Icha Tactics, as Iruka peered through the window before concluding what Kakashi had already figured.

"It seems we've been left behind, Kakashi Sensei," Iruka awkwardly laughed.

"That Naruto hasn't changed at all has he?" sighed Kakashi, tucking his book away into his yukata since it was too dim to be able to read his favourite text.

Iruka smiled reminiscently, "Not particularly, no. But maybe we'll catch him at the food stalls."

Kakashi nodded and the two men made their way to the lively New Year Festival. They made talk of a mixture of Naruto, the future of the alliance and current events, mainly the Akatsuki and their four new female members.

"I don't believe they are as big of a threat that everyone is making them out to be," Iruka pondered and rubbed his nose unconsciously, "they haven't attacked anyone or made any threats to do anything of the sort."

"Iruka Sensei, they are still the Akatsuki," Kakashi continued, "if they truly wanted to break ties with that name, why do they still wear the trademark black and red clouded cloak? I'm more worried about those four girls that they've recruited."

"Why?"

"We don't know anything about them, absolutely nothing, but it's only one of them that I don't truly trust."

Iruka frowned, "Who? From what I've heard they are nice kids."

"Nice? They've tricked us into thinking they were people they weren't, they are the Akatsuki; it's what they do," Kakashi was visibly getting worked up over the topic, "especially that May-san."

"What about me?" said person asked so sickly sweet it was frightening, the two senseis turned to see May and Abi standing right behind them, "Did I do something to upset you Hatake-sama?"

"Not at all, merely making observations."

"You should be careful about what you say; you never know who might hear it."

"I only speak the truth."

"I'm sure you do."

Abi sighed softly, rubbing her temples as she watched the two bicker, "Must you really…"

"…Kakashi Sensei?" Iruka was doing the exact same thing as Abi, although he was talking to the man not the girl, "I don't see any reason for you to speak to her like that."

The comment made Abi laugh softly, considering it was exactly what she was planning to say, "I don't think either are going to listen, they're both a stubborn as each other."

"You're telling me; anyway you must be…Abi-chan?"

"That's me!"

"It is so nice to finally meet you, I've heard a lot about you and your friends," Iruka warmly shook her hand, his smile was genuine and friendly, "Of course the ones I've heard from Kakashi Sensei I think are slightly exaggerated."

"Most likely yes, we haven't been on the best of terms since Suna."

"Oh dear, maybe I can make it up to you."

Talking with Iruka was a lovely distraction from listening to May and Kakashi battle it out, Abi welcomed the new conversation with excited interest, "What might that be?"

"I'm a teacher at the academy, I may not be as good as some of the Akatsuki members but I do know something, if you want any advice on anything please feel free to stop by and talk to me."

"That sounds like an offer I'll just have to take you up on."

The pleasantries shared between the two more sophisticated ninja completely contrasted to the squabbling duo beside them. Abi could see by observing the situation how calm and collected Iruka was compared to his close friend Kakashi, similar to her and May, she had no doubts in her mind that the man before her had some hidden talents that he was just too shy to show to the world. He seemed happy teaching and being a role model so there really was no need to pry any further.

A small squeal sounded from May, obviously she lost the argument. She grabbed Abi's arm and began to pull her off down the dark streets, "Come on we're leaving."

"Ah okay," Abi looked back quickly and waved softly to Iruka, "Thank you Iruka Sensei, I'll be sure to visit you as soon as I can."

Iruka waved back at the retreating figure, he smiled gently to himself, he wasn't normally that easy going with girls, especially attractive **young** girls, but it seemed somewhat different with Abi. He was looking forwards to her visit. Unfortunately his happy delirium was cut short with a small scoff coming from the other sensei, "They're nothing but trouble."

"I don't think so…"

"That's because you were too busy gawking at Abi-chan to notice."

"I was not gawking!"

"You were, you were also blushing as she spoke," Kakashi walked off leaving the fuming Iruka behind him, "You're a hopeless romantic Iruka Sensei."

"Get back here Kakashi‼"

* * *

A small giggle escaped Konan's throat as Pein planted another small kiss on her cheek, she was so happy that they didn't have to hide their love any longer, she leaned into him and smiled softly. No words needed to be said. She put her head on his shoulder as they walked together, she didn't think she would ever be able to feel so at peace. Pein suddenly stopped walking, she immediately knew something was wrong, "Pein?"

"I don't believe it," Pein sighed and pointed down the road, Konan blushed at the sight while Pein growled slightly, "What the hell does he think he's doing?"

"Obviously he's kissing Tay."

"It's the way he's kissing her, DEIDARA‼"

The bomber froze the sound of his name being screamed, he and Tay slowly looked over at the now angry looking duo. Tay laughed uneasily and slowly inched her way behind Deidara, he in turn swallowed the lump in his throat and chose to stand tall, "What do you want un?"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm with Tay, you can't stop it un."

"She's a child."

"She's seventeen, she can make her own choices," Deidara pulled her back out so he could wrap his arm around her waist, "And she's chosen me, you can't change that un."

"You are not to be left alone together, ever!"

"We haven't done anything," Deidara calmly walked past the man but his face was screwed up in annoyance, "You're over reacting un."

"I don't care, she is far too young for you."

"The difference is only two years un."

A loud crash interrupted the argument, making both the couples freeze temporarily. They all sighed a confused relief when they saw May and Abi giggling evilly together as they ran out of a nearby building. Pein sighed and waved the girls over, they smiled to each other but were shaking terribly on the inside, he leaned forwards and looked into May's bag, "What is all of this?"

"Ah…tools…"

"What were you doing with these tools?"

"Stuff…"

"Is that Naruto's house?"

"Maybe…"

"That's it," Pein grabbed Abi's bag and tossed the two to Konan, knowing full well that they were causing mischief, he pushed Tay over to the other two and folded his arms, "You three go home now, you can watch the fireworks from there."

"Aw…"

"No fair…"

"Please Pein-sama…"

"No, home now!" He started pushing them before something clicked in the back of his brain, "Where's Elle-chan?"

* * *

A small satisfied smile couldn't be kept off the Kazekage's face, he was still walking hand-in-hand with Elle and she seemed to be really enjoying his company…

"Gaara-sama over here, what do you do with this one?"

"You catch fish," he crouched down with her and paid the man for a scoop, he handed it to her and nodded, "Try it."

Elle concentrated really hard but the fish still fell through the scoop, she frowned and stuck her tongue out at the fish, "I could eat you in one bite."

Gaara laughed lightly, after paying for another scoop, and put it in her hand, he put his hand over hers and guided her through it, "You do it like this."

Elle squeaked happily as she put the gold fish into the bowl, she turned around and held it out to Gaara, "Look, I did it."

"I see that."

"Thank you very much," she bowed kindly to the man at the stand before grabbing Gaara's hand again and started to pull him down the road with her brand new fish. She hummed happily and looked at the swimming creature, "What do we do with it now?"

Gaara smiled and pulled her from the road, all the way to a small stream, and nodded at it, "We can set the fish free."

"That's a great idea, bye little fish," Elle tipped it in and waved as it swam away.

Gaara smiled at her, he really liked her and didn't care who knew it, he thought she was special. Before he realised it, he had reached out and brushed hair off her face, she looked shocked for a second but smiled softly at him. He didn't know what possessed him to do it but he finally did what Kankuro told him and kissed her, the angle was off and felt slightly uncomfortable but he was glad he did it. He pulled away to see Elle staring at him in shock, his heart dropped slightly and he suddenly felt conscious about everything around him, "I'm sorry…"

"Why?"

"I shouldn't have done that, you didn't want me to," he turned to leave when he felt a sharp pain rip through the back of his head, the sound of the slap thudding softly in the dark. He grabbed the small spot and looked back at Elle, she was not looking happy about what he just said.

"You're doing it again."

"Doing…what?"

"You're assuming, yes I was surprised but that doesn't mean I didn't want you to do it."

"What?"

"_Bloody hell_," Elle grabbed both sides of his face and stretched up so she could return his kiss, it was more comfortable this time even if it was a little more forced. She slowly pulled away and looked at the ground, her blush glowing lightly against the dark of the night, "Don't assume Gaara-sama, otherwise you might make a big mistake."

"I nearly did, didn't I?"

"Yeah…_idiot_."

"Elle-chan there you are," the rich tone from Konan sounded relieved as she found the two, they stood awkwardly apart after they thought they had been caught, Konan didn't seem to notice though as she hugged the girl tightly, "You weren't supposed to wander off by yourself, you know that, come on everyone's looking for you."

"Ah, okay…" she followed obediently behind Konan but looked back at Gaara, he saw the look she had was unlike any one she had given him before, "See you later, Gaara-sama."

"Bye Elle-chan."


	34. Chapter 33

Mumbled voices felt like nails running down a chalk board on the ears of the girl who had stayed up all night watching fireworks. May groaned weakly and pushed Tay's surprisingly heavy arm off her, they had all crashed in May's bed because it was the closest; she quickly ran her fingers through her hair to start getting the knots out, "_Come on guys, wake up_."

"_Why?_" Tay was next up since May had practically thrown her arm back at her, "_It's still early_."

"_Help…_"

The two awake girls 'awed' softly when they saw Elle curled up around Abi's arm; she had a small smile lingering on her sleeping face and mewed gently every time Abi moved. May slowly shook her, getting another mew, and spoke in a hushed tone, "_Wakey-wakey Elle…_"

"…_no…_"

"_Come on, I'll make you something to drink_," May pulled Elle away from Abi so the blonde could actually get up, Elle grabbed the back of her shirt and pressed her forehead against the soft material like a moving pillow, May nodded towards the door and began to lead her friends out. The voices slowly grew loud as the girls drew closer to the kitchen; they all stopped at the doorway to hear an argument in progress.

"I don't want them involved in this anymore than they have to be."

"They're involved whether they like it or not Pein-san; they deserve to at least know what they are involved in."

"They're just so young…"

"They're older than myself."

"They're not from this world."

"We're here now," Abi went in first since May was being weighed down from the still sleepy Elle, both the Kages, Temari, Kakashi and Pein were around the table obviously arguing about them, "What are we involved in?"

Pein growled a soft warning but Tsunade ignored it completely, "We're trying to create a new group to discuss ideas about what to do with Tobi, **we** want you involved but the Akatsuki don't seem to want your opinion."

"That's not what I said," Pein slammed his hand on the table making the breakfast clatter at the force, "I said I don't want them any more involved than they **have** to be, if they don't need to be I don' t want them to."

Tay sat down beside Pein and began to eat some of the food in front of her, "How many of us do you need?"

"Just the one," Gaara pushed the rice towards Abi as she sat opposite him, "So far the team consists of Kakashi, Pein and Temari, only one of you need to join."

"Oh, then May can do it."

"Yup May."

"Hey, why am I always first up?" May went to sit Elle in the last chair but she decided to crawl onto Gaara's lap and snuggle into his chest instead, May shrugged it off and sat beside them, "Why can't Elle do it?"

Elle moaned gently and opened one of her eyes, "…I'll do it if you won't…it sounds like fun…"

Temari looked curiously at the girl on her brother's lap, she leaned towards them slightly and smirked, "That involves long hours discussing possibilities about different ways to destroy Tobi, it involves knowing all the abilities of the shinobi in the village, and it also involves days arguing amongst just the four of us until a decision is unanimous and if the Kages don't like it then we have to go all the way back to square one."

"…May can do it…"

"Thanks Elle; can always count on you."

"…you're welcome…"

"Geez I can't talk to you when you're like this," May sighed deeply and poured out a cup of hot tea, she handed it to Gaara, "Get her to drink this** please**."

Kakashi growled so quietly that no one heard it; he narrowed his eye at May, "Would you mind answering a question for me May-san?"

"What do you want to know?"

"Why are all my students currently **dyed **black with red clouds?"

"I have no idea."

"I'm not going to play games," he closed in and leaned forwards so they meet at eye level, "I know you had something to do with it and I want to know how to get rid of it."

"I thought a **Jounin** of all people would know how to get rid of little dye…"

"You shouldn't play games you can't finish May-san."

"You shouldn't play with people out of your league Hatake-sama."

Tay snickered to herself and leaned towards Abi, "_They really don't like each other_."

"_Duh, he's sore about her fooling him and she's obviously pissed off with the_ _fact that he sees her as less than his equal_."

"_That's hilarious; now explain the two next to them_."

"_I honestly have no clue; I think it's just Elle being super affectionate because she's still asleep_."

"_It's cute though,_" Tay snickered again as Elle turned her head away from the drink Gaara was trying to give her, "_Don't tell her I said that._"

"_Scouts honour_."

Tay giggled and felt a hand run down the side of her arm, she turned and received a small kiss from her boyfriend, "Good morning un."

"Morning," she felt the blush cross her entire face, it didn't help that Abi gave her a knowing look, "_Shut your stupid blonde face_."

"_I didn't say anything_."

"_You were going to_."

Deidara poured himself a drink and rubbed Elle's head playfully as he passed, "What's going on here un?"

Pein looked at the sleeping girl and shrugged lightly, "I have no idea, I think Elle's just really tired from staying up so late."

"I meant the huge group un."

"Oh, the new task force that is going to come up with a new plan to get Tobi," he pointed at May, "May, Kakashi, Temari and myself have been appointed to it but I would like a bit more information on it."

"You will be meeting at least once every day," Gaara gave up trying to get Elle to drink and instead rested his head on hers, "We have a meeting room set up in both of the Kage mansions, you can record everything you discuss and it will be kept safe in a vault in the tunnels that connect beneath the mansions. At the end of each week you will be meeting with us with a full report."

"Ha, I doubt that's going to get far un."

Tsunade leaned against the counter, a grave expression remained on her face, "This is no laughing matter, once there is a decent plan we will gather everyone and explain it. We will need everyone's support in order to do anything. Especially against an enemy like Tobi."

May turned away from Kakashi and leaned boredly on her hand, "So when do we start?"

"Immediately."

"Not while I'm in my pyjamas, we're not," May stood abruptly, grabbing Elle's arm and left the table, the rest of her friends dragging themselves slowly along behind her.

* * *

"_Where the hell is my…_" Abi rummaged through her bag, angrily throwing her clothes around the room, "_Why can't I find matching socks?_"

May chuckled lightly from the doorway and chucked her a bag, "_I've got some in there, take your pick_."

"_Geez the bag is heavy, how many socks do you have?_"

"_Not many, maybe you just need to train more._"

"_Oh, my God!_"

Curious as to why her friend was now intensely staring into her sock bag, her eyes went wide when she spotted it too, "_I totally forgot about all of that…_"

"_Elle! Tay! Get in here!_"

The two entered as told, Tay leading the still waking Elle in, staring in shock at the amount of money that Abi and May held between them. That was enough to wake Elle up completely, "_Where the hell did you get all of that?_"

"_Abi's artwork_," May explained as the girls drew even closer, "_There's one hundred thousand Ryo here_."

"_Wow…_"

"Hey what's taking so long…?" Kakuzu opened the door wider and stared, something in his brain snapped and he froze completely. The girls were holding so much money and he wanted to know where they got it from…

The four shoved all the money into their pockets and ran all the way back down to the kitchen, they were nearly at the door when Kakashi slammed it shut and stood in front of it, glaring as usual, "Where are you four going now?"

"Well…" May looked to her friends for ideas.

Abi scratched the back of her neck and looked at the ground, "…we…"

"…we need…" Tay looked around rapidly; they needed a good excuse if they wanted out.

"TAMPONS‼"

Everyone stared in shock at Elle; the small girl nodded to herself and indicated at her friends, "We need tampons."

"Right…" Kakashi moved out of the way, now slightly disturbed, and opened the door for the four blushing girls, "Don't let us stop you."

The four dived out the door and took off down the road; nothing was going to get in their way. Everyone in the kitchen stood around awkwardly, not knowing what to say, until Kakuzu flew through the kitchen screaming at the top of his lungs, "HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET ALL OF THAT?!_"_

Tsunade chuckled lightly as Kakuzu ran after the girls, "Should we go chase them?"

"Leave it be," Pein sighed and began to pack up the dishes, not the least bit fazed about what just happened, he'd find out about it later, "As long as they're safe they can do as they please, and if Kakuzu is chasing them I say run till your feet fall off."

"You'll make a great father one day Pein-san."

"Thank you Tsunade-san."


	35. Chapter 34

**A.N. This is for Omigesh, my homie and favorite person who I've never met. Anyways I hope I got the character right and hope that you like it so...enjoy.**

* * *

"_Kisame-san has been acting weird lately_," May observed to herself while the four girls lazed around the living room, the day being hot and humid.

Abi nodded in agreement and looked away from her current drawing, "_I've noticed it too. It's like he's suddenly got the whole word on his shoulders, his chakra is so blue that it's almost black_."

"_So…should we pry?_"

"_Prying means getting up_," Elle dangled upside down from a beam above them, "_I want to go swimming_."

"_Swimming also involved getting up genius_."

Tay put down her book, being the only one attempting to learn to read Japanese she was always reading something, and rubbed her throbbing temples, "_People have bad days. It's not unusual for Kisame to be depressed even if we've never actually seen him depressed_."

"_So we leave him alone_," Elle jumped down from her seat and grabbed her cloak from under Abi's feet, "_I'm going swimming if anyone wants me_."

"_Okay then_."

She got about halfway out the door when Tay threw her book on the floor and got up, "_Wait for me_."

May re-tied her hair in a slightly higher position but still failed to get it off her neck, "_So that's two down, what do you want to do today then?_"

"_I'm in the middle of this and I am on a roll. I'm getting this thing finished today and if anyone tries to interrupt me I will hurt them. I will hurt them bad._"

"_I see, I should leave you alone then._"

"_Not really. I'm drawing you. I got Pein paying me to draw pictures of everyone, well mainly us, and I've already done a self-portrait so you're next._"

"_Only one who sits still long enough?_"

"_Yeah._"

"_Alright then._"

"…"

"_Abi are you nearly done? I'm getting cramp._"

"_Yeah just a few more minutes._"

"_Abi…_"

"_Just wait May, I'm nearly done I swear._"

"_Fine._"

"Hey girls," the fish man walked out of the kitchen and observed the situation with a small smile, "what are you doing?"

"Drawing. Shhh."

"Ah the portraits, how are they coming along?"

"She's done hers and is currently doing mine, and as you can see she's in the zone," May laughed lightly but stayed in the same position, "You're in a better mood this morning."

"Yes I know," he sat opposite her but remained outside of Abi's vision, "I hope you haven't been worrying about me."

"Maybe a little. What's been on your mind?"

"This and that, nothing that will cause in major consequences in the near future anyway. Where have the others vanished?"

"Swimming."

"It is rather warm today."

"Warm? I'm roasting and want to join them but someone has yet to finish."

"Shhh, I'm nearly done."

"Yeah, keep saying that Abi."

"Shhh."

Kisame looked between the duo with a small frown, "Why didn't you stop them from leaving? You girls know that you aren't allowed to leave without an escort."

"They were with each other."

"Tell me which way they went so I can go sort them out."

"They went to water."

"So helpful May-san," he got to his feet once more with a large sigh then headed for the door, "you two are staying here until I get back. Don't do anything okay."

"See ya.

On pure reaction May waved him out, a series of angered curses could be heard from down the street from the blonde artist.

* * *

Heads turned, mouths dropped, people just stared as a stranger waltzed through the village with a soft scowl planted on her face. Not only was this stranger staring down every person that she passed but the way she carried herself made everyone turn and look, she walked like the Hokage and had the looks to match. Her ruby red hair complimented her deep sapphire eyes, and both were accented by her slightly darkened skin all wrapped up in a violet kimono and black boots. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun with her bangs hanging loose and a white kunai holding it in place, a small violet ribbon floated off the end of the small weapon.

The woman deepened her scowl, her eyes were searching but not finding. She bit her fingernail in frustration before being bowled over by two girls in black cloaks, she bounced back to her feet and snarled at them, "Typical, morons running around everywhere."

"Excuse me?" Elle rolled over and got up as well, placing her hands on her hips, "You're the one who was in the way."

"Right, I love being bowled over by two complete strangers in a village full of self-absorbed idiots."

"I'm sorry?"

"Yeah, listen, I'm looking for someone and you're going to help me because you just pissed me off."

Tay just stared in shock, the strange girl before her did not look like she was going to be messed around with, "Wha- who are we looking for?"

"I tell you when we find him."

"Then how are we-?"

"Shut up and move."

"Hey wait…" the two Akatsuki girls were exactly that, Akatsuki, and they weren't about to be pushed around by anyone, "We don't have to listen to a word that you say."

She stopped, turning slowly to face them, "Excuse me?"

"Fuck off lady."

"Alright," she reached into her long boots and pulled out a black tanto, obviously it had been well used, "you are going to apologize for what you just said or you're going to suffer the consequences."

Tay pushed Elle behind her, protecting the smaller girl, "_Stay here and watch me kick her ass._"

"_Call if you need me_."

"Apologize."

"In your dreams."

"Your decision has been made."

She vanished suddenly, both girls gasping and frantically looking for their opponent. She reappeared behind Elle and swung, only just missing as the young ninja bounced out of the way and onto a building. Tay pulled out her own short sword and charged. The clash of metal rang through the quickly emptying streets, each moved swiftly and skilfully, but it wasn't long until the stranger's true skill began to show. Tay was completely outclassed in speed and strength, she couldn't keep up as the tanto beat her back, blood drizzling out of minor injuries that could've been fatal had her opponent been wanting to kill her. Even so she didn't want to give, she was part of the Akatsuki and she had to protect Elle, she wasn't going to lose to the stranger. Reality didn't reflect her desires as the tanto flew upwards, she dodged the blade but dropped her sword and fell backwards, her opponent smirked down at her and put the blade to her chin.

"Surrender or die."

"_Elle get help._"

"_I'm not leaving Tay,_" she leapt from her spot but was swatted away like a fly.

The stranger pushed the blade higher so it sat on the skin under Tay's cheek bone, "I don't want to have to cut your pretty face but you aren't giving me a choice so…"

"Stop‼"

"Akari."

Once the name had been muttered everyone froze, the tanto was hidden back in the boot and the owner's face turned slowly. She straightened up and kicked Tay over with her shoe, staring down the road at the owner of the voice, "It's about time you showed your face," she moved past the bleeding girl and folded her arms, "You have some explaining to do Kisame."

He stumbled forwards, quickly catching and pushing the two Akatsuki girls behind him, "Akari-chan…"

"Don't call me that."

"Look, what are you even doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Akari marched forwards and stared him straight in the face, determination and anger following through her, "last I heard you were dead."

"That's a long story…"

"Really? Let me guess it has something to do with the little pets you have trembling behind you like a couple of five year olds," he voice suddenly filled with venom, "I never took you for a cradle snatcher."

"You're the one acting like a child," his voice didn't raise in tone, he just started walking down the road while she trailed along behind, "You're 28 now Akari, you should start acting your age."

"Like you're one to talk."

"Hey Kisame-san," Tay made sure that she and Elle stayed on the other side of him, "you know this girl?"

"Yes. She's my girlfriend."

* * *

A long exaggerated sigh later Abi picked up her picture and placed it carefully on one of the shelves, "_All done now, you can move again._"

"_I am in so much pain right now._"

"_You're about to be in more, we need to tie the other two down so I can draw them._"

"_Why couldn't he just get a picture taken?_"

"_Really?_"

"_Yeah I know, it's even more hassle and Kakuzu would never pay anyone for something as stupid as a picture._"

"_Wow we've got an exciting few days ahead of us._"

"_Looks like things are getting exciting now,_" May looked out the window after hearing the oncoming screams, "_incoming._"

The door flew opened followed by Tay, Elle and Kisame who was carrying a new girl in on his shoulder. She was the one cursing at the top of her lungs at him. She was thrown onto the couch, May rolling off and away simultaneously, her face still riddled with anger, "Dammit Kisame, I want answers. Wait. There are more of these brats?"

"Akari listen to me, things have gotten really complicated since we last spoke and I'm not prepared to clear them up until you have some sleep."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Like it or not but I still care about you, I care about you a lot," he ignored the 'awing' girls and kept his focus on the frustrated woman in front of him, "and I know for a fact that you are extra crabby when you haven't had enough sleep, I know you."

"I'm not doing anything until you answer my questions."

Kisame backed up slightly, knowing for a fact that he wasn't going to win this argument, "Girls, go to your rooms."

"But we want to watch."

"Please Kisame-san."

"We'll be quiet."

"I already started cooking the popcorn."

"NOW."

The four bustled up the stairs with cheeky giggles, Kisame knew later they were going to tease him all about it later but that was the last thing on his mind. The first and foremost was the girl with arms crossed over her chest, "Who are they Kisame?"

"They're the reason I'm alive."

"I'm sure they are."

"Akari," it took all his effort not to sigh as he sat on the opposite chair, taking his time to explain past events. Akari nodded occasionally, her face never changing from the same expression from when she had been carried in. The story seemed to drag on but eventually it came to end, "and now we are living in the village to make up for our past actions," he looked back at her with a plead in his eyes, "I really would have gone to find you but I need to stay here to watch the girls. They're in more danger than anyone else in this village."

"That sounds like a loud of crap Kisame."

"But-"

"But nothing," she rose from her seat and crossed over to him, she crawled onto his lap and kissed his forehead, "I know you and that is the only reason that I'm not mad at you. You wouldn't be able to come up with a lie as detailed as that."

"So you aren't mad at me?"

"Of course I'm mad at you. I was heartbroken when I heard that you had died and then suddenly I hear that you're alive all over again. I don't know what to think."

He ran his head across her cheek, caressing it gently in the way that he hadn't been able to for so long, "Then don't think and forgive me?"

"You really think that it's going to be that easy?"

"I hope so."

"Well it isn't," she kissed him again before climbing off, "Now where is your room so I can go sleep?"

"Upstairs, third door on your right. If you hear continuous giggling then you're by the girls' rooms."

"Alright, I'll see you in the morning Kisame."

His eyes followed her all the way to the top of the stair, the weight of the world finally being lifted from his shoulders. Now he just had to wait for the consistent jeers he was going to receive the next morning by the others who knew about his relationship, after all they called him the woman in the relationship.


	36. Chapter 35

**A.N. Time to celebrate an end of an era, no more High School for this Twigg. I is all grown up and we're happy, I am very happy. HAVE A NICE LIFE!**

* * *

"That won't work."

"How would you know?"

"I'm not going to let you use my friends as bait."

"Then how do you suggest we draw him out?"

"Why don't we dangle Naruto out on a line with a sign saying 'bite me'?"

"We are not using my students as bait."

May gave Kakashi a look that screamed 'you're a hypocrite', "Then how do you suggest we draw him out?"

"Well he's interested in you; we could get you in a bikini and dangle you from a cliff."

Temari sighed defeat and began to pack up her gear, they had been meeting for a few days and those two always bickered over something or nothing so no work ever got done. This morning was a prime example, Kakashi didn't like the fact the May was pouring tea for everyone. She looked over at Pein who was busy writing down plans for his wedding, "Think it's time we called it a day?"

"Hm? Oh sure," he picked up his notes also and looked over at May, "Are you ready to go home?"

"Yeah, yeah, hold on a second," she hushed Pein with a finger and turned back to Kakashi, obviously she was upset with what they were talking about, "So, you think it's perfectly fine to risks our lives but the moment someone **you** know personally is put up to bat, you dismiss the idea like it's the worst thing you have ever heard."

"How naïve the youth can be," Kakashi sighed nostalgically but his eyes were as cold as ever, "I'm saying you and your friends are the newest interest of Tobi so you should be using it to your advantage. Bring him out of hiding and the **capable** ninja can finish off your mess."

"What do you mean by that exactly?"

"Exactly what I said."

Pein shrugged it off and held his hand out to Temari, "After you Temari-san."

"Thanks," she allowed him to walk her to the corridor out of courtesy, she waited until they were well out of earshot before voicing her concern, "We're not going to get anywhere with those two fighting like they are. I don't get why they can't agree on anything, it's for the good of everyone after all."

Pein sighed in agreement; he felt the exact same way but didn't know how to solve the problem, "I have to wonder though, I thought Nara Shikamaru was the best strategist in Konoha yet Kakashi was chosen to be on the team."

"Shikamaru isn't exactly in the good books with the Akatsuki; he thought it best to stay low for a while."

"Smart boy, very smart in fact," Pein looked at her sideways, spotting the small corner of scroll that had snuck its way out of her pocket, "And if you were going to tell him about our meetings I think that it would be best that you informed me about what he said." Temari showed no signs of being caught but he knew he got her, "You can also let him know that we have discovered some strange abilities with each of the girls, and if he wants more information about it he should talk to Itachi about it."

Temari smirked and nodded to herself, "I'll be sure to let him know, if I see him that is."

"I'm certain you will."

* * *

Itachi groaned to himself, rubbing his temples in frustration, and finally convinced himself to open his eyes, "Why won't you take this seriously?"

"I am," Elle panted softly, ducking when Tay dived at her, and brushed back the hair that was stuck in her sweat, "I really am onii-san."

"Then why doesn't it look like you are."

"I don't know what you want me to do."

"Fight them."

She twirled around Abi and flipped over the oncoming Tay, "I am fighting."

"No, you're dodging, fight them."

She turned on herself and punched Abi's chest as she passed, Abi fell backwards slightly and had to duck as Elle's leg swung at her head. Elle jumped over Tay and pushed her over a she went over the other girl's head. Elle puffed heavily and jumped onto a low branch, leaning against the trunk, "Can we take a break now?"

Itachi sighed and motioned for her to come over, she shook her head and slouched further down the tree. He leapt over and jumped up to meet her, he crouched down and put a hand on her head, "There doesn't seem to be anything weird with you."

"You really have a way with women, no wonder the girls are all over you."

"Elle…"

"Hey Itachi-kun, I think she is weird," Abi got off the ground and pulled at her shirt, a fist shaped wet patch was the main point of her interruption, "I'm pretty sure this wasn't here before."

Elle groaned and flung her head against the tree trunk, "Great so I'm weird but it's useless. I need a drink."

"I have a canteen over here…"

"Unless it's alcohol I don't want it."

Itachi stared in shock at her statement, "But…you're only seventeen."

"Oh Itachi," Elle cupped his cheek then patted it softly, a smirk stretched across her face, "You're so innocent."

* * *

Kankuro stretched his arms upwards as he lead his little brother to the meeting room, he had heard a lot of arguing going on and thought it would be best if they checked up on the group. The voices had grown louder since he last passed the room but that only served to make him believe he made the right choice, "After you Kazekage-sama."

"Great," Gaara opened the door slowly and just stared at the scene, Kakashi was growling at May and she in turn was just about to throw a chair at him. He sighed softly and rubbed his eyes gently, "What are you two doing? And where have the other two gone?"

"Ask the man with all the answers."

"Don't pin this on me, you were the one who started this whole thing."

"You wanted to use my friends as bait, as the capable ninja you should be out front."

"And get killed immediately?"

"SEE, you are just trying to kill us off."

A snicker echoed from the doorway seizing the argument and making the duo glare heavily at Kankuro, he shrugged and scratched his head, "You guys fight like an old couple. A really violent old couple."

"Shut up Kankuro."

"Don't speak to your betters like that."

"You are just asking to get your ass kicked aren't you?"

"Enough," Gaara gave up on listening to them bicker, he had grown bored of it, and he pointed out the door, "Both of you just go home already, come back tomorrow and bring a better attitude."

"Yes Kazekage-sama."

* * *

Orochimaru slunk his way around the hideout, he didn't like obeying anyone but he had no choice with Tobi, he valued his life more than his pride. He crossed into Tobi's room as he was ordered, the man in the mask stared him down as he entered, "You're late."

"Some of the subordinates needed to be punished."

"I don't want to hear your excuses."

"My apologizes," how Orochimaru despised the man before him.

"I want you to gather any of your subordinates that know about the area around the new village, we're going in for the attack," Tobi got out of his seat so he could collect a scroll from the cupboards beside his bed, "We need to weaken them as much as possible before we launch a full attack, so don't use the bet of your subordinates. And if it is possible I want Naruto or Sasuke destroyed, if you could kill both we will have already won."

"I will set that up immediately," Orochimaru hissed his answer and left as quickly as he could without raising suspicion. He and Kabuto were going to surpass Tobi and take over, the man was too senile to rule the world, and he needs to leave it to the immortals.

* * *

May clenched her fists, fighting the urge to punch Kakashi as he 'walked' her home, "You just assume everything, what happened to innocent until proven guilty?"

"You've admitted that you're guilty often enough to destroy any innocence to still have."

"And you're a prick."

Kakashi scoffed and kept walking, "Remember what the Kazekage told you, bring a better attitude tomorrow."

"That was implied at you too!" she called but knew it was pointless, he was just trying to wind her up and it was unfortunately working. She walked through the front door and made sure to slam it behind her, "I hate the people here!"

Abi looked up from her seat at the table and tried not to laugh, "Kakashi still arguing with you?"

"Senile old asshole. Anyway, what's going on here?"

Itachi handed her a drink, a small blush hiding on his face, "May, are you a virgin?"

"What?! Of course I am."

"Are you sure?"

"I suddenly change my mind, yes I have had sex and it was great."

"NO WAY‼"

"I'M BEING SARCASTIC!"

"Are you sure?"

May slammed her palm into her face; she gritted her teeth and let her hand slid down her face, "What is with you all of a sudden?"

"I'm trying to find out more about you girls," he turned his back on her and continued to cook the dinner, "Did you know that Elle has been drunk before?"

"Oh yeah, the funniest thing I've ever seen."

"Besides that, you are far too young…"

"And what does that have to do with my sex life?"

He didn't answer immediately, instead Tay did it for him, "He's been asking all of us, and yes he also keeps saying 'are you sure?'"

"_Men are stupid_."

"_Agreed_."

"_You do realise I can understand you, right?"_

"_Right," _May nodded, "I forgot that."

"Well remember it now," Itachi indicated for all four of the girls to sit in front of him, they complied and he looked seriously at them, "You four may be seventeen years old but you're still children, from now on you are to live as your peers here do. That means things like not drinking until you are twenty at least," he looked carefully at the giggling Elle before continuing, "I also know that some of you have begun…seeing…certain ninja in this village, you are not to go on any dates or things along those lines without a chaperon of the Akatsuki's choice. Tay, that means no being alone with Deidara."

All of the girls voiced their opinions in roughly the same way;

"No way‼"

"That's so not fair."

"You can't do that."

"You can't make us."

"I can and have. What are you four going to do about it?"

* * *

"_Where do you think you're going?_"

May froze at the window and slowly looked back at the cross armed Abi.

"_Um_," she fiddled nervously with the latch, "_I just needed air_…"

"_Okay, now explain why one of your legs is out of the window. Did it need the most air?_"

"_Yes_."

"_You're sneaking out aren't you?_"

"_Fine, yes I am, are you coming or not?_"

"_I'm in_," Abi pushed her friend out the window and followed along behind quickly, she had been wanting to get out for a while now and she wanted to know where May was running off to, it was a win-win situation for her.

They quickly dived down the streets before Itachi could catch them and drag their asses back to the house; however they weren't quite fast enough, "You two, home now."

Abi ran alongside May, she sighed softly before looking at her friend, "_Sorry May_," before May could reply she had been tripped by the blonde and left behind to face the over-protective Uchiha alone. Some might call that evil, some might call it down-right cruel, but Abi just called it Karma for trying to run off without her. She dipped her way through the many streets, looking for a hiding spot before she was caught too, but seeing only the curious, doubtful or hateful looking locals. Eventually she slowed to a walk, tired from running for so long, but didn't watch where she was going, and went straight into one of the locals, "Sorry…"

"Ah, not at all Abi-chan," Iruka's friendly voice eased the tension that had built up in her body as she ran from Itachi, he helped her back to her feet and smiled warmly, "May I ask where you are going in such a hurry?"

"Just…hiding from Itachi-kun," she admitted shyly, she didn't see any reason to lie to him, "He's put down his fist and frankly none of us like it."

"Well, if you need a place to hide my apartment is just down the road."

"That would be awesome."

It didn't take long to get to the apartment, and it wasn't anything special either. Basic essentials were scattered about the plain apartment with dull colours mingled amongst it. It made Abi fantasies about the different artworks she could hang or create on the blank walls. Iruka didn't notice her small smile as he set up the kettle for tea; he nodded politely as she shut the door and sat down on his grey floor, "Are you hungry?"

"Yes please, I missed lunch."

"How did you do that?"

"Chased May out while they were serving."

"Oh," Iruka bit his tongue to stop his laughter from escaping, "Did she get out too?"

"Unfortunately Itachi-kun caught her before she could get far enough away."

"Oh dear."

"Yes," Abi smirked to herself as she nibbled on the various foods Iruka had set before her, she was going to stay a while if the food continued to be this good, "It was…most…unfortunate."


	37. Chapter 36

"We have a problem."

Gaara lifted his head quickly at the sound of the Hokage's voice in his office, "What happened now?"

"Kakashi and May still refuse to get along," she explained helplessly as she began to look around his office, snooping to see if he had hidden any Sake in it, "The group won't function properly unless everyone is working at the same level."

"They're **still** fighting?"

"I think the last thing I heard them bickering over was having the curtains fully open, or half open."

"Kami," Gaara sighed defeat; Temari had told him all about the problems those two had been causing and the solution she and Shikamaru had come up with. He rose from his chair and put away the paperwork he had been working on, "Have you ever heard of the poison to beat poison tactic?"

"By putting two people who don't like each other together to do small tasks in which they have to cooperate in, of course I have heard of it."

"Well I'm going to go try it, tell them to meet me just outside the village. They're going to be doing a lot of hard labour today."

* * *

Elle groaned dramatically and covered her eyes, "_I think I'm going to throw up._"

"_Shut up Elle,_" Tay pulled away from Deidara so she could refill her lungs and scowl at her friend, "_Why are you even here?_"

"_May's at that meeting thing and Abi's learning more Genjutsu from Itachi, I've got nowhere else to go_."

"_If you're going to stay then shut up, I'm too busy to play with you right now_."

Elle pouted and put on her cloak, she turned back only to give Tay one final glare, "_I'm not a stupid child, I don't need to play with anyone_."

Deidara chuckled lightly as the door slammed shut in front of him, "She's in a foul mood this morning un."

"She's just jealous that she doesn't have a boyfriend."

"You sound very happy when you say that un."

"That's because I am," she reached up and kissed his cheek softly before falling back into his chest, "This is the first time since the festival that we've been left alone together. It's so peaceful."

"Pein will be back any minute…"

"Wanna ditch?"

"Lead the way un."

"Freeze!"

The duo stopped just before the front door, Konan didn't sound happy about their plans to escape. She drew closer and folded her arms, "Where do you two think you're going?"

"Out un."

"Not on my watch, if you're so keen to do something together you can do the dishes and then go out for groceries. We're running low on rice and pork."

Tay sagged; she hated chores more than anything in the world, "Why? We haven't done anything wrong and even Elle got to go out by herself."

"No arguing, start cleaning."

Deidara grunted at the semi-full sink, "You'll have to wash, that stuff tastes horrid," he indicated to the small mouths on his hands, "Trust me."

Tay giggled and began to wash, secretly Konan was trying to help them but if Pein found out she let them go out without a reason she would have been in big trouble. Once Konan left Deidara decided to have a little fun with his little girlfriend, "You got something on your face un."

"Huh? Where?"

"Here," he let the tongue from one of his hands slide along her cheek, enjoying the blush and squeak he received from doing so. He let the tongue lick her cheek a few more times before moving it over to her lips; Tay picked up on what he was trying to do and blushed harder. He leaned in, his breath and become slightly husky, "Open your mouth un."

Tay shook her head at first but slowly parted her lips, letting the tongue slide into and explore her mouth. She moaned lightly and pushed the hand towards her face, she was surprised she was so open to be making out with a hand but to her it still felt sensational. She pushed it away when she needed air and grabbed onto Deidara's ponytail, she pulled him in and smirked at his lust filled eyes, "I want the real thing…"

A small groan was heard from behind them before a bucket of ice cold water came crashing down. Tay screamed at the coldness and began to shiver, Deidara went in to hold her but Kisame pushed him away, "Oh no, you really need to go cool down."

"You're an asshole un."

"And that was the most disgusting scene I have ever witnessed," he put his cloak around Tay's shoulders and began to push her towards the stairs, "Go have a shower and go get changed, you'll catch something if you stay like this."

Tay nodded but gave Deidara a small wink, "We'll finish this another time."

"Damn right un."

* * *

"I don't know what you did but now you've gone and made the Kazekage angry."

"Oh, so just because I'm in the Akatsuki I'm the reason behind everyone's anger?"

"She's finally getting it."

"Asshole," May proclaimed as she put another book away, "I'm stuck with you in the records department. What a great way to spend the afternoon."

"That we can agree on at least, first it was de-weeding the gates…"

"…then it was painting a house…"

"…washing the Inuzuka's dogs…"

"…painting another house…"

"…buying Sake for the Hokage…"

"…and that brings us to this room," May grunted and slammed the filing draw shut, she made a mental note to never open that again, "I must've done something wrong, why else would I be being punished so horribly?"

"Not my fault you're a pain in the ass."

"Not my fault **you** start every fight."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Oh you so do."

Kakashi turned around quickly and slammed his hand on the wall just above May's shoulder; she remained unfazed, "It's not my fault you're too immature to understand the complex situations we have been faced with."

"Not my fault you're not getting any."

"What kind of blame game answer is that?"

"A truthful one."

Kakashi let a small chuckle escape his throat, "And an innocent virgin like you would know all about that how?"

"I may be a virgin but I'm not innocent."

"Yes you are."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"You so are."

"Well you can go fuck Iruka up the ass."

"At least I'll be getting some."

"Ha! So you've been having a dry spell."

"Have not."

"Have too."

"Have not."

"You so have."

* * *

It was fun hanging upside down on some telephone wire next to a group of birds, she didn't care if the people beneath her were pointing and laughing. She was really bored. She softly hummed to herself in an attempt to drown out the sounds of the lively streets, and the fact that if she fell it would probably kill her.

"Elle! Hey Elle-chan‼"

She slowly cracked and eye open, Temari and Shikamaru were starting up at her with confused expressions, Temari was the one yelling, "What the hell are you doing up there?"

"Everyone's ditched me so I'm just hanging around."

"We can see that," Shikamaru noted boredly.

"So why'd you interrupt me if you already knew what I was doing?"

"Because you're starting to scare the locals. Would you please come down now?"

Elle jumped down and landed on her feet like a cat, she faced the couple and stared at Temari, "Wait…aren't you supposed to be at your meeting?"

Temari shrugged and intertwined her fingers with Shikamaru's, "Gaara needed Kakashi and May for something so we called it an early day."

"Man, I'm so bored."

"Just go see May, she's at the Kazekage's mansion, I'm sure Gaara will let you in when you explain yourself."

Elle saluted the couple one last time and took off down the road; she enjoyed running places now because it didn't take her long at all. She bounced up to the doors of the mansion and knocked gently, she was certainly surprised when Gaara opened the door, "Hello Elle-chan."

"Hi Gaara-sama," she began to fidget with her sleeve and cursed inwardly, now she's all shy around him and she didn't like it, "Is…ah…is May here?"

"Yes she's cleaning up my records for me."

"Can I…ah…see her?"

"This way," he calmly led her through the corridors, slightly frustrated that she wasn't there to see him. He didn't bother to trying to strike up conversation so they moved in silence, he eventually reached the room and opened the door for her, "There you go."

"Ah…thank you," she squeaked quietly and let him walk off; she started to wish that she had said something but she didn't know what to say. She stood in the doorway and just stared at the duo standing on the table…

"I'm the taller one."

"You're a woman and therefore shorter. Get off my table."

"This table isn't yours. And who cares if I'm a woman I'm still taller."

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Are not."

"Are too."

"You're so not."

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TWO DOING?" Elle screamed loud enough to make Gaara turn around and walk all the way back to where she was standing. He tried not to laugh at the strange expression on her face.

"Shhh Elle," May waved her hand at her friend but never let her eyes waver from Kakashi, "The adults are talking."

"You're not an adult yet May-san."

"I so am."

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Are not."

"Are too."

"You're definitely not."

Elle groaned and hid her face in her hands, "This is so embarrassing, and I'm not even the one who's arguing."

"Ah…let's give them some space," Gaara wrapped his arm around the blushing girl's waist and began to lead her to his office. The inner Gaara was smiling triumphantly since Kakashi and May had given him an excuse to get closer to his little Elle.

* * *

"I think that's enough for today," the older Uchiha exasperated and gave Abi a small smirk, "I haven't had a Genjutsu battle like that for a while, I think I'm slacking."

"Or I'm just really good at it."

"I think it's more like that ability of yours is helping you cheat a bit."

"It's not cheating of you lose."

Itachi let his laughter fly, it wasn't often he showed emotions but he was comfortable enough to do it around the girls now. They were family…

"Hey Itachi…"

"Yes?"

"What would you do if we went home?"

"What?"

"What would you do?" Abi sat up and looked at her **temporary** older brother, "Would you cry? Would you stop us? What would you do?"

"Well…" he thought about her question carefully, he had honestly never thought about them leaving, he didn't want them to go back, "…I think I would cry a little. I would most likely find a way for a bridge between our two worlds to be made so I wouldn't lose you, I've lost my family once and I don't want it to happen again. Why are you asking this?"

Abi looked away from him, obviously avoiding the question, "What do you think the others would do?"

"They…might… try to stop you, most of them aren't use to the feeling of caring for someone and just the thought of losing you might make them want to lock you in a basement somewhere. You have grown on us, all four of you have, I don't think you realise just how much."

"Mmm."

Itachi reached over and pulled Abi into a hug, "If you want to go home I completely understand…but we won't let you go easily," Abi looked at him in shock, receiving only an honest smile, "Like it or not, you're stuck with us for better or for worse. Now, are you going to answer my question?"

"No," Abi jumped up and ran down the road, leaving Itachi to laugh lightly and pick up the chase. He had to look after her after all.

* * *

Gaara groaned happily as his tongue explored Elle's mouth, it was a sensation he had never dreamed of. He slid his arms around her waist to pull her closer; she moaned softly, taking a mere second to gain air before attacking his mouth again. She was sitting on his lap at his desk, wrapping her arms around his neck so they felt closer than they were. Neither knew what they were doing but enjoyed learning with each other. Slowly Elle pulled away and looked carefully at her man, "Gaara-sama?"

"Yeah?"

"How the hell did we end up like this?"

"I'm not sure."

"Okay," she shrugged it off and kissed him again, slowly convincing him to open his mouth again. He chuckled and complied, he was enjoying this more than he wanted to admit, he was enjoying becoming closer to her.

"I told you it was this way."

"Women are horrible with directions and obviously remembering things, because you were going in the other direction."

"Don't be a sore loser Hatake-sama," May opened the door and stared in shock, "_Elle…what are you doing?_"

Elle blushed furiously then decided to smirk at her friend, "Do you mind May, the adults are talking…"

"_Get off of him._"

"_But I'm having fun_."

"_Elle‼_"

Gaara turned Elle around so she faced May completely but remained on his lap, "Have you finished with the resources department?"

"Yes Kazekage-sama," Kakashi was smirking at the angry face May was making, "So I believe we can go home now?"

"Yes you can, be back here tomorrow for the next meeting and hopefully this time you'll actually make some progress."

"_Elle, get you scrawny little butt over here right now._"

"_I'd like to see you make me_."

"_Oh you little bitch,_" May crossed her arms and glared at her smirking friend, "_Just wait till you get home._"

"_Who says I'm coming home?_"

"_ELLE‼_"

"Okay, okay I'm coming," Elle climbed off Gaara's lap, giving him a kiss on the cheek as she got off, and ran over to her steaming friend. She began to push May out the door so she could wink quickly back at the happy Kage, "Let's do this again soon Kazekage-sama."

"Indeed," Gaara smiled and waved her off, stopping only when he noticed Kakashi still standing in his office, "Was there something else Kakashi-san?"

Kakashi smiled and just pointed behind him, "You're with the young Elle I see."

"Yes…I fail to see how that should concern you though."

"Oh I was just thinking about telling Naruto about this, he is your friend after all."

"Feel free to."

"And one final piece of advice, if you so choose to use it," Kakashi pulled a small book out of his pocket and placed it gently on the Kazekage's desk, "The book holds a lot of information about relationships, I do hope it helps."

Gaara nodded thankfully and waited until the copy ninja had shut the door before looking at the book, "_Icha Icha Paradise? Let's see what you've got…"_


	38. Chapter 37

"_You're too young!_"

"_We're the same age May…_"

"_He's too old for you!_"

"_He's younger than me…_"

"_You just shouldn't do that kind thing!_"

"_Because…?_"

"_I said so‼_"

Elle sighed while she stretched in her splits; May had invaded her bedroom to lecture her about what she did with Gaara the other day, thinking back at it Elle still didn't know how they ended up like that. She smiled to herself and curved her back so she could look at her still angry friend, "_Have you told the others yet about me and the young Kage?_"

"_I thought I would be able to talk you out of doing it but you seem content on being with him._"

"_I don't see why not, he really likes me May._"

May looked curiously at her little friend; she had never seen Elle act like this before, especially about a boy. She gave up and shook her head, "_At least stopping stretching like that, it's unnatural._"

"_You're just jealous_."

"_Sure thing,_" May rolled her eyes and left. She was going to have to get involved with this somehow, she wasn't going to just leave Elle to figure it out on her own, after all Gaara didn't know anything about relationships either. She planned to go straight to the Kazekage but the sound of her most hated enemy echoing from the kitchen made her stop at the end of the stairs, she sat down and began to listen in…

"She is becoming a serious problem for the group, I'm pretty sure that the others won't swap with her so you're going to have to talk to her."

"May won't see herself as the problem, I can see this backfiring."

"She'll listen to you, I've tried to reason but it just won't work."

"May is a complicated girl Kakashi Sensei. You can't just tell her to change, it doesn't work like that."

"You'll be able to talk her around."

"I don't think so…"

"Just tell her to be less of a bitch."

"I'm not the problem!" May stormed into the kitchen, driving her finger directly into the middle of Kakashi's head protector with all the force she could muster, "You don't seem not know what common courtesy is. You're lack of respect is the source of all our conflict."

"Now May-san, I'm not the problem," he pushed her finger away and stood up to pat her head like a child, "You just need to…"

"…WHY IS IT ALWAYS ME? Take a little responsibility here."

"I'm not the problem."

"You so are!"

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Are not‼"

Pein sighed deeply; he really wished those two would screw the brains out of each other so he wouldn't have to put up with their obsessive fighting. It was too tiring for him to keep up with.

"Are too."

"Are not."

* * *

Gaara pushed the book he was given deeper into his pocket, he only got half way through the book but that was enough to give him a bleeding nose thinking about him and Elle…..

A hand flew to his nose as he thought about it again. He really needed to give Kakashi a piece of his mind; that was not the kind of information he was after. He slowly moved his way through the village street, greeting the locals as he passed, not really looking for anyone in particular, he just needed the fresh air. A familiar head of shiny black caught his attention and made the Kage change his course, quickly catching up to one of his closest friends, "Hello Lee."

"Greetings Gaara-sama, you are out and about today I see," the overly energetic voice cheered like always. Somehow just hearing Lee's happy voice always made the Kage feel surer of himself.

"I am, I've been needing the fresh air for a while now."

"Something on your mind?"

"More like someone…"

"OH! HOW YOUTHFUL‼ WHO IS THE LUCKY GIRL?"

"No need to yell Lee," Gaara sighed and began to pull the not-at-all-embarrassed Chunin with him down the road, "But yes it is a girl."

"Do I know her?"

"You know of her…"

"One of the Akatsuki girls then…" Lee looked carefully at the Kage, assessing the man, and thinking as hard as he could, "At my guess, would it be…Elle?"

Gaara froze for a second, staring at Lee in shock, "Was it that easy to guess?"

"The day I was in the hospital with you and Elle I saw something, you seemed somewhat off and she looked most hurt when you said that you did not know who she was. I knew at that moment that she was interested in you and you were developing feelings for her, believe it or not Gaara-sama but I actually understand quite a bit about relationships. I find them most youthful."

"I can believe that."

"Would you like some advice?"

"Please."

"Well then," Lee rubbed his chin thoughtfully, making sure to think it over carefully so it didn't backfire on his good friend, "I would try to get close to her friends, they know the most about her and they would try to protect her from any unknown force, for example you."

"I see," Gaara began to understand things a little better now, he just had one more question to ask Lee, "How do you suggest I approach the situation?"

Lee sighed and stopped the Kazekage in his tracks, "You cannot think of relationships like that. They are unpredictable, have you not been with Elle and suddenly found yourself in a situation that you do not remember how it happened?"

"Yes, yes we have done that."

"What is this? Is that a blush I see on Kazekage-sama's face?" Lee grabbed Gaara's hands, staring intently to the shocked jade eyes with his own sparkling with anticipation, "You must tell me all about it."

"Well…"

"Wait, you must tell Naruto also!" Lee took off, dragging Gaara behind him also, excited about his friend's new love life, "This is most youthful news, most youthful‼"

* * *

Footsteps receded from Tobi's room, and at long last, the plotting man was left alone. All yesterday and this morning, people had been pestering him about nothing to if he wanted more tea. They would have been hung up after drowning in their own blood if he had not needed them and the master they belonged to. He was finally on his own with his thoughts and plans.

He needed to humiliate the Akatsuki the way they humiliated him, how dare they betray him for a group of pathetic girls. They needed to suffer for their actions. He was going to use their weakness, make them suffer, make them regret the day they chose to disobey Uchiha Tobi.

However it was going to be difficult for him to get to the girls, which was the real reason behind the upcoming attack on the village. He was going to get his May back on his side, not only was she the leader of the four girls but she also interested him the most, he can't deny to himself that he was attracted to her but he knew the girl came at a price, a price of three other girls.

"Tobi-sama," a fragile looking experiment of Orochimaru's came in with some more tea, he bowed shakily and backed out of the room, "Please call if you need anything else."

Slowly the wheels in the mastermind's began to turn, Orochimaru was always looking for others to experiment on, and he had three girls he needed to suffer and be out of his hair. Now all that was left was to get his May back, of course she needed to be _convinced_ a little bit first but that wouldn't be too hard.

Tobi was going to get his way, he always did. But right now he had to discuss matters to his subordinates, leaving his tea to cool and never drunk, he needed specific shinobi for this mission…

* * *

"So what are you going to do until I get back?"

"I'm going to miss you every second until you come back."

"And what are you going to do when I come back?"

"Show everyone just how much you mean to me."

"Good boy," Akari stood on her toes so she could reach his cheek to kiss, "I should be back in a few weeks so don't get too attached to those girls you're living with."

"I already told you they're more like sisters to me."

"Yeah, yeah."

He wrapped his long arms around her petite weight and easily pulled her up to his height, "I promise that if you just spend a little bit of time with them you'll soon feel the same way. Now," he kissed her tenderly, thankful that the girl he cared about most wasn't mad at him anymore, "try not to kill anyone while you're out there."

"I'll try."

"No you won't."

"Yeah I won't. Now put me down."

"You're the boss."

Akari couldn't help but smile, for so long she had mourned over the loss of him and now they had a second chance at everything. He was part of a village again so she didn't have to hide her feelings for him, and she had spoken to the Kages about moving in…not that she had told him yet. She waved slowly as the giant man became nothing more than a mere speck in the horizon.

She had a few plans stored in the back of her mind and once they were in full blossom, things were definitely going to go her way.

* * *

Elle groaned, lying her head on the table out of boredom as May ranted at her again. She had yet to figure out why everyone left her alone with the pissed off Asian, "_I thought we had this discussion, I'm not going to stop seeing him just because you don't like him._"

"_I don't have a problem with him, it's him seeing you that I have a problem with._"

"_What's so wrong with it?_"

"_That is an excellent question that I don't have to answer_."

"_Look, just because you can't get your way with Kakashi doesn't mean you can invade and try to take over my love life. Gaara is the Kazekage, he's a good person May._"

May slammed her hand on the table, making Elle jump in surprise, the perfect reason just popped into her head, "_He can't protect you._"

"_What?_"

"_He has an entire village to look after, when you need him most he won't be there. You need someone who will stand by you through thick and thin, not whenever he has a spare minute._"

Elle froze, she didn't think of that before, but did it really matter? She slumped further into the chair, wishing she could just disappear completely. Now was the time she really needed someone to just hold her, her voice gone quiet with realisation, "_…you're wrong…_"

"_Open your eyes Elle, he won't ever be around long enough to look after you. You'll always be second fiddle to his village_."

"_Shut up May."_

"_YOU'RE GOING TO GET HURT SO DON'T COME CRYING TO ME._"

"_STOP TAKING YOUR ANGER OUT ON ME ALREADY_."

The two girls stood inches apart, panting heavily, becoming the calm before the storm. An eerie silence hung between them, interrupted when Hidan came yawning into the room after waking from his afternoon nap, "What the fuck? When are you two going to learn to shut the hell up?"

Elle sent her leg flying towards the ceiling, hitting May beneath the chin before she could react, and sending her flying out the door. May rolled backwards and up to her feet, only to be greeted with Elle's angry fist flying towards her at full speed. May felt heat flush by her face as she dodged the attack, she began to repeat the hand signs she had drilled into her mind. She slid in front of a small group of locals and raised her fingers to her lips, "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu," a small volley of fire balls erupted from May's mouth and flew towards her opponent.

Hidan ran to the door and raised his fist, "I DIDN'T FUCKING MEAN THIS‼"

Elle gracefully swirled around each of the flame balls, dancing with the Jutsu, and then charging back to May with a kunai at the ready. May pulled out a kunai of her own and leapt forwards, each girl froze suddenly moments before the kunais were about to clash. A bored sigh rang clear across the gathered crowd, causing the small sea that had gathered to part. Shikamaru slowly got up from his kneel, the girls mimicking his actions, and turned his head to the man next to him and sighed again, "They're all yours."

"Thank you Shikamaru-san," Pein slowly walked forwards until he reached the girls, his voice was full of disappointment, "What are you two playing at? That wasn't sparring from what I saw."

Elle glared hatefully at May, "_Take it back_."

"_I'd like to see you make me_."

"So I'm not getting an answer? You can release them now Shikamaru," Pein gripped the shoulder off each girl as the Jutsu was released and pushed them further away from each other, "You two are going to go inside and sort out whatever problem you have."

"_TAKE IT BACK._"

"_NOT ON YOUR LIFE_."

Pein sighed and began to strain as the girls attempted to start fighting again, "On second thought maybe you two need some time a part. Now I'm going to release my grip slightly, but that's only if you two agree to control your anger enough to talk it out."

"Fine."

"I agree too."

"Good girls," he released his grips but spun in shock, the girls jumped well out of his reach and onto buildings close by, he growled, "Get back down here."

Elle grunted and leapt completely over his head, she landed on the same roof as May, forcing her fist towards her opponent with all anger coursing through her. May rolled backwards and began her retreat, she didn't know where to but she knew couldn't beat Elle in hand to hand combat. She leapt backwards and squealed as two strong arms tapped her to a broad chest, the voice she hated most sighed happily in her ear, "May-san, you're such a child."

"Let me go asshole, this has nothing to do with you," she pulled furiously against his grip but it was useless. She looked over to see Elle being held back up Sasuke, she knew Elle was going to hate her for a while but she needed to hear it, and it was better to be heard from a friend than a rival.

Kakashi pulled her towards Elle and forced her to Elle's eye level, "Now apologize."

May watched carefully as Elle smirked, she didn't like that face her friend was making. Elle moved swiftly, forcing her weight back onto the young Uchiha and freeing her legs to kick upwards at May. May squealed and fell helplessly into Kakashi's arms, she could feel electricity coursing harshly in her veins, it was the worst electric shock she had ever felt. She didn't have long to feel it as her world went black, the last words she heard came from the man holding her…

"May‼"


	39. Chapter 38

Itachi grabbed Elle's shoulders, resisting the urge to both shake her and hug her simultaneously which would have been a strange sight, "Please Elle, this isn't a game anymore."

"I swear, I don't know what happened," she clenched her tremoring fists and stared up at the Uchiha, all she could see was May shuddering and collapsing, when her breathing stopped and skin paled…"I really don't know…"

"Are you sure Elle?"

"Yes, one minute we're fighting then the next she just…" Elle bit her lip, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Yeah I know," he chose to hug her, especially when he saw the tears start to unwillingly fall, "I know. I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

"I'm so sorry…"

"It's okay Elle."

Kisame slowly slid into the bedroom, everyone in the hideout knew about the fight but not one knew how it started or why it ended with May being hospitalised with severe electrocution. None of it made sense to anyone. He sat on the bed and patted the sobbing head, "You can stop all of that now, she's going to be just fine, your friend Sakura is here to take you to see her. She said that it wasn't as bad as they first thought and that May is going to wake up soon. Maybe, any minute now."

"She. She, she won't want to see me…"

"I think she would."

Elle shook her head, pulling away from Itachi, and curled up into and small ball in the corner, "Can I be alone please?"

Kisame ignored her request and pulled her onto his lap, he held her tightly and nodded at Itachi, "Go with Sakura and check on May, the others are too busy searching for Abi and Tay to go with her."

"Right, look after Elle-chan."

"Will do."

Itachi shut the door softly, he needed to do more research into Elle's abilities because he knew that somehow the two were linked, he had to figure out what happened soon so something like this won't happen again. He clattered into the kitchen and nodded in greeting to Sakura, "Haruno-san."

"Itachi-san," she nodded back, looking past him at the same time, "Is Elle-chan going to come down?"

"Not at the moment, she's still upset about the fight."

"I heard about it, so she doesn't know how it happened either?"

"Not a clue," he held the door open and ushered Sakura out, the two began to walk side by side down the slowly bustling streets, letting the young cherry blossom lead the way to the hospital, "What exactly was the matter with May?"

"She was electrocuted, as you already know, but here's the strange part. It was like it came from inside of her. There is no external, or lasting, damage so it couldn't come from Elle but we know it did. It's very strange…"

"Is it possible that it could've been passed through chakra contact?"

"I guess, theoretically, that would work…" Sakura thought carefully, she had been contemplating that idea for a while now but it seemed too improbable, "but…how did you come up with it?"

"It's a long story."

"We have a while until we reach the hospital."

"Well then," Itachi smiled at the medic, "Let me tell you all about it…"

* * *

Kakashi sat next to the bed and watched the unconscious black haired young woman. He reached over and brushed some of the stray hairs off May's face, her breathing had finally become steady and the colour had returned to her skin. It took a while for Sakura to convince her sensei that May was going to be fine. The moment she collapsed, he felt like he couldn't breathe. And when she didn't respond he did stop breathing. Kakashi thought he was going to lose May before he could really get to know her, to get close to her. It frightened him. The thought, the reason behind it, he had already lost everything that he loved long before May came into his life. He didn't realise that he had grown so attached to her. And those immature arguments. Right now, he longed to argue over nothing with her, to rile her up. To just hear her voice. He chuckled lightly as she ran his hand down the side of her cheek, "May-san, you're not a child anymore."

He leaned over and kissed her forehead, he wiped the sweat from her brow and sighed, he was an old fool. May groaned lightly and opened one of her eyes slowly, it made Kakashi jumped away in surprise, she glared at him, "What the hell were you just doing?"

"I...ah…you see…"

"You were trying to put a Genjutsu on me weren't you, asshole!"

Kakashi's chuckle was light, mainly out of relief, he had never met a woman who fought back with such a strong will, "Obviously you are still so naïve, assuming the worst in everyone."

"It's just you and constantly annoying me. And I'm not naïve!"

"Are too."

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Are not!" May leaned forwards and cringed at the sudden rush of pain, collapsing straight back onto the bed and missing the worried look that flashed across Kakashi's face as she bit her tongue, "_Jesus fucking Christ._"

Kakashi slid to the door way only so he could wave when he was part way out, "Have fun in hospital, I hear the needles have just been sharpened."

"Jerk‼"

* * *

Pale faces ran panicked into the hospital; the ninja at the reception desk took one look at the Akatsuki cloaks and shivered subconsciously, "Three stories up, fifth door on your right."

The two continued to run with all their might up to the directed room, they crashed past the retreating silver haired Jounin and directly into the room, "_MAY‼_"

"_Tay? Abi?_" May looked extremely surprised, usually she was the one panicking, "_Who died?_"

"_What the hell happened?_"

"_Why were you fighting with Elle?_"

"_Ah…that is complicated, speaking of Elle_," May shuffled nervously, she really had to apologize to her for making her so mad, "_Is she out there? Did she come to visit_?"

Abi shook her head slowly; no one was able to convince the tiny shinobi to leave her room, "_She's a bit on the fragile side at the moment. She did want us to tell you that she's really sorry about putting you in hospital._"

"_I thought as much, she's such a fool_."

"_You are too. You know you shouldn't pick a fight with her, especially a fist fight_," Tay sat on the bed, looking vaguely out the window as she lectured the unspoken leader of their group of four, "_She's got you beat in speed and Taijutsu._"

"_It's not like I planned it Tay._"

"_Even so, you really should've known better_."

Abi sat at the head of the bed so she could brush out May's messy bed head with the brush she found, "_I don't get it though, she electrocuted you?_"

"_Apparently so_."

"_But when she fought against me and Tay, the worst I got was a wet shirt in the spots she hit. I thought that her chakra would be water based because of it._"

"_Apparently not_."

"_Hmm, and Itachi thought I was the strangest, I guess Elle beats me on that front now_."

"_Apparently so._"

"_Would you please say something other apparently something? It's starting to get on my nerves…_"

May cleared her throat, Elle was going to hate her even more now but these two needed to know, "_Listen guys, I'm kinda the reason as to why the fight started…_"

"_Explain._"

"_Well, I kinda told her that she had to stop seeing the…boy she liked…because he was going to be useless when it came to looking after her. She told me to stop but I kinda kept going, I was taking my frustration out on her and I really shouldn't have._"

"_Now you realise this?_"

"_SHUT UP TAY!_"

"_Come on guys, let's sort this out,_" Abi sounded sincere but was smirking all the same, it wasn't often May got called out on a stupid statement like that, "_So Elle got pissed that you were bad mouthing her boyfriend, who is he by the way?_"

"_You can't tell her I told you_."

"_Sure thing_."

"_Gaara…_"

"_Oh dear._"

"_Yup._"

"_Let me guess, you told her because he has a village to look after she will always be like a silver medal?_"

"_I said second fiddle but same difference_."

"_And she got worked up over it and attacked you?_"

"_Yes._"

"_THAT'S IT!_" Abi jumped from the bed and began to wave ecstatically as it all made sense to her, "_I know why you were electrocuted while I was just dampened. It's so simple it's genius!_"

Tay, always the last to get it, folded her arms and grumbled, "_Well hurry up and tell us already._"

"_It depends on her mood!_"

"_What does?_"

"_The element! When she couldn't be bothered I got splashed with water…_"

"_...and when I pissed her off I got electrified!_" May clicked and smiled, that made a lot more sense, "_That's so weird, but so very useful, we should go tell her right now‼_"

"_Tay!_"

"_Right!_" Tay pulled rope out of nowhere and flung it around May; Abi grabbed the other end and pulled tightly. May squeaked painfully as the rope tightened around her body, she fell back on the bed and Tay clapped her hands successfully, "_You're staying here until you're better, we'll catch you later May_."

"_Wait, don't leave me here! GUYS COME BACK‼_"

* * *

Sand flew swiftly through the village, news had just reached the Kazekage about May, and now he was determined to find Elle, he wasn't sure how but he knew that she needed him right now. She wasn't at the Akatsuki house anymore so he had to search the rest of the village, and she wasn't making it easy to be found. He darted through a large group of trees and reformed by the small stream where Elle let the fish go, she was playing gently with the water but still noticed his presence, "Can I help you Gaara-sama?"

"Why are you all the way out here?"

"I wanted to be alone but the others wouldn't let me be."

"I see."

"You're not getting the hint are you?"

"I'm not assuming," he sat beside her, placing a gentle hand on her back, "that's landed me in worse situations before."

Elle rolled over, Gaara's hand moving to her stomach, she looked carefully at him and sighed sadly, "We need to stop this."

"Stop what?"

"This, you shouldn't be involved with someone like me."

He refused to move his hand, it twitched slightly as he started to understand what she was trying to say, "Why not?"

"I really don't want to hurt you…"

"You're hurting me right now."

"We need to, you don't have enough time…"

Gaara frowned, time? Was this all because he was the Kazekage? He was hoping that it wouldn't bother her but it turns out that it did. He leaned closer to her face, he wanted her to know what he said was true, "You're very important to me, I will always have time for you."

"No you won't, you need to look after your village," she sat up hastily, her eyes locked seriously onto his, "You don't have time for any relationships especially if the girl is a part of the Akatsuki, people don't like it."

"I don't care. I like you."

"Well don't."

He grabbed the sides of her face before she could argue further, he silenced her with his lips, if she needed proof that he wanted her then he was going to give it to her. Elle clasped her hands over his, trying to pry them off, but ended up falling backwards giving Gaara more force behind the kiss. He broke apart from her so he could remove the heavy gourd, not wanting to crush Elle beneath the weight, and attacked her affectionately once more. He could feel her fighting against him but she was moaning softly. She wanted him, he knew she did, which was why he was so confused as to why now she was trying to push him away. Gaara slowly slipped his tongue into Elle's mouth, getting another light moan from his girl, and he slowly ran his hand through some of her loose hair before pulling away slightly. He looked at her cloudy eyes, she gripped the hair at the back of his head desperately, she pulled herself back towards his mouth, "Gaara…"

He kissed her gently and helped pull her back to a sitting position, she began to blush as he stared at her, his question was very obvious, "Are you playing with me?"

"Of course not…"

"Then why are do you say we should break up and then call out my name so desperately."

"I…I don't want to be second fiddle to anyone," Elle dropped her hands and looked away, she felt so selfish telling him, "I want you all to myself but I can't, you're the Kazekage, the village needs you more."

"Elle…" he pressed his foreheads up to hers, he sighed gently as he felt her body start to shake, "You…who put this idea in your head?"

"No one, I…"

"Don't lie to me."

Elle sighed, clutching lightly on the material of his shirt she had grown so use to grabbing, "It was the reason I started fighting with May, she said that I needed someone who would always be there for **me** and that you would only come if your village let you. I was so mad and then she went to hospital and then I ran off and now I'm trying to break up with you."

"But you don't want to."

"I told you before that we should. We're not supposed to be together Gaara, just ask your brother."

"He is not going to concern himself with my private life, I won't let him, and you shouldn't let your friends interfere either," he pulled back her hair so there was nothing stopping them from seeing each other completely, "I'm not going to give you up easily either, so if you want to end this you are going to have to try harder."

"I don't want to end it."

"I don't either."

They shared another light kiss, the world around them didn't matter in that one moment, they had each other. Elle wrapped her arms around Gaara's neck and hugged him tightly, "Gaara-sama…"

He cursed quietly that she added the honorifics again, "Yes?"

"If you had to pick between me and one of the villagers, I want you to pick them. You're the Kazekage and I understand that they come first…"

"Elle…"

"…but that's only if I can have you for every other moment."

"Only if you stop calling me Gaara-sama, if we're going to be together then we should try a bit harder."

"Okay…" Elle pulled back so she could smile cheekily at her man, "…Panda-chan."


	40. Chapter 39

_May sighed loudly, she was so tired from walking in high heels all day, the cars speeding loudly below her apartment didn't help either, she just wanted to go to sleep already. Slowly undoing her ponytail, her ebony hair cascading over her pure white blouse, gave her a small sense freedom. Her apartment was small and clattered ever since her boyfriend moved in but she didn't mind too much, he paid bills and rent on time and he knew when to give her space, he was perfect for her._

"_I need a drink," May groaned as she removed herself from the couch to get some wine, the other thing about her boyfriend she loved so much was that he always kept the fridge stocked full of wine and food. She poured herself a glass of the red liquid and retreated to her couch, he was late tonight, "I hope everything's okay…"_

_The door rattled lightly as it was unlocked, the deep baritone called tiredly from it, "May, I'm home."_

"_You're late, what happened?"_

"_The meeting ran longer than I expected, neither party wanted to give way. Some days I wonder why I became what I did…"_

"_Because you're good at it, you have a way with words Kakashi. Always have, always will."_

_The silver haired man laughed lightly, sitting next to May and pulling her feet onto his lap so he could massage the sore body parts, "You always know just what to say. Already into the wine I see, the boss working you hard again?"_

"_Apparently my skirt was not short enough and as punishment I had to do the office coffee run, run being the key word," May let her head roll back as Kakashi worked his magic fingers on her tired feet, "You have got to teach me how you do that."_

"_Like the way my fingers work?"_

"_Mhmm."_

_"I **could** teach you," Kakashi paused and skimmed his fingers along her shin, "or you could just keep me?"_

_"I like that suggestion better."_

_Kakashi crawled on top of May, softly kissing his way up to her neck, he gently removed the wine glass from her hand so they were free to wrap around his neck. He nibbled lightly on her ear, receiving grateful moans, and whispered softly in it, "Just how tired are you?"_

"_Looking to have a little fun Kakashi?"_

"_Only if you're up to it."_

"_I think I can squeeze in one round," May kissed the smirking lips as Kakashi moved to her other ear, "or two…"_

"_Mmm, May," Kakashi slowly pulled the pencil skirt higher, massaging her thighs as well as moving his kisses along her neck, "May, May, May."_

"_Kakashi, you're an idiot."_

"_May…san…wake up…"_

"_Huh?"_

"May-san are you with us?" a cocky voice interrupted the unconscious day dream she had fell into, a gloved hand waved in front of her face, "Do you want to have another nap?"

May blushed as she came to; she slapped the hand away and avoided looking at the sexy man she had just been dreaming about, "Shut up Kakashi, I've been awake this whole time."

"Then what were we just talking about?"

"Have you ever heard of the words 'personal space' before?"

"Yes."

"Then would you get out of mine."

"I'm not in it."

"Are too."

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Are not."

Pein grumbled and sat on the end of May's bed, effectively separating the two, "If you're done we can continue."

Kakashi smirked and leaned against the wall again, "Well we need to bring Tobi out of hiding, but he doesn't have any weaknesses…"

"He likes May, let's send her out," Temari glared heavily at the girl in the hospital bed, May didn't know why yet but the Suna kunoichi had looked like she had wanted to kill May all morning, "Dangle her from a cliff…I'm starting to like that idea more and more…"

"That was a joke Temari-san…"

"Well I'm putting the idea forwards."

"We are not risking her life," Pein slid his hand around May's shoulders in a side hug, protecting her from the evil glare of Temari's, "So unless you have another idea I say we call it a day."

"Fine, one more thing though…" Temari lowered her voice enough to make it threatening, "Keep out of my brother's life."

May swallowed, now it made sense to her. She needed to get out of the hospital and find the Kazekage fast; she had some apologizing to do.

* * *

"So anger equals lightning and boredom equals water?" Elle hung upside down in the tree as she recapped on what Itachi told her, "That's really, really weird pairings. I'm super strange."

Itachi chuckled lightly, "Yes, we all know that much. What I wanna do today is figure out the other elements so I've asked a few of the locals to help with today's training."

"_Oh God…_which ones?"

"Elle-chan, I'm sure you recognise Lee-san and Gai Sensei. Sasuke kindly brought them along to help us today."

Elle looked at the smiling duo, at the smirking Sasuke, then finally to the calm Itachi, "_Please tell me you're on drugs or something._"

"I'm afraid not Elle-chan."

"_I'm on drugs…?_"

"Nope."

"_Fuck…my life…_"

"Let's go young Elle, youth cannot wait forever," Gai gave her the biggest smile he could before jumping towards the tree, "Dainamikku Entorī."

Elle squeaked and fell out of the tree as the man attacked; she rolled out of the way and quickly jumped over the oncoming Lee. She was really hoping when Itachi said, "Just you and me training today," that it would mean she could goof off while he talked about what was on his mind…now she was just depressed…

"Dainamikku Entorī!"

"Konoha Senpū‼"

* * *

Gaara stared down the Akatsuki girl who stood in his office, he wasn't going to hide the fact that he wasn't exactly happy with her and she obviously knew it. She had tried to pry Elle away from him but he wasn't going to let that happen. Kankuro shuffled over to his side and smirked his whisper, "Man you can be really scary at times."

"It's all worth it in the end," Gaara cleared his throat before looking up at May again, "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Well…I ah…" May was avoiding the stony gaze but trembling as she could still feel it weighing her down, she wasn't one to be frightened easily but she just couldn't stand the expressionless man before her, "I heard that you and Elle are an item…"

"No thanks to you."

She cowered under the harsh accusation, "So she…um…tried to…"

"Break up with me? Yes but we fixed that up last night, I pried out of her that **you** were the reason behind it."

Now Kankuro began to glare at May, he didn't like the way she influenced Elle especially if Gaara was content on still dating her friend. May noticed it too and cowered again, she didn't want to apologize, she didn't like to, and she needed something to distract the duo… "BUNNIES‼"

Gaara was slightly taken back, "What?"

"Bunnies, Elle loves bunnies," May laughed quickly and began to flail her arms around rapidly, "If you get her a soft toy bunny or something like that she'll love you forever, she'd get back with you in a second."

"We haven't broken up…"

"Ah…right…I meant that she will do anything you want…"

"You want me to bribe her to be with me?"

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, I didn't mean it like that…"

"If you are going to say something just say it."

May sighed and turned her head away, her voice as low as she could make it, "…so…rry…"

"I didn't catch that."

"I'm…so…rry…"

"I'm not in the mood for games."

May sighed drastically and fell to the floor; she placed her forehead against the cold ground and finally spoke loud enough to hear, "I'm really sorry okay, I didn't mean to do it. I hurt both you and Elle deeply and I'm really, really sorry for it."

Kankuro couldn't hold back his laughter, he enjoyed watching anyone in the Akatsuki begging and May just looked plainly uncomfortable bowing out her apology, "Gaara where's the camera, I want to remember this forever."

Gaara watched May cringe under his brother's laughter, a small pity went out to the girl, but that was outweighed completely by the fact that she almost made Elle break up with him, **almost**, "Get off the floor May-san, you're forgiven for now," the girl got to her feet and waited, Gaara had more to say, "I hope that we will not have a meeting like this **ever** again, I really like Elle so I want to get to know the people she cares about most. **Don't** make it difficult for me to like you."

"Yes Kazekage-sama."

"You can go now; maybe tomorrow I'll be in a better mood to talk to you."

"Yes Kazekage-sama," May left quickly, she was starting to really get why people used to be so terrified of the man, and she hadn't even seen him kill anyone yet…

* * *

"Ugh…you're still here…"

Heads turned towards the now open door, a red head stood with a frown on her face. Tay was first to talk to the intruder, "Akari right? Here's the news, we live here and so we're always going to be here. So why the hell are you intruding into our house?"

"None of your damned business squirt."

"I'm seventeen."

"I'm twenty eight. What's your point?"

"Get out of our house‼"

Abi sighed and pushed Tay's face away with her hand, "What can we do for you Akari-san?"

"I'm looking for Kisame. You seen him blondey?"

"It's either Abi or you get no information. Your choice period head."

"You've got a smart mouth brat."

"Thank you."

Akari took her time getting to the seat opposite them, she figure if her fishy boyfriend wanted to keep the brats in his life then she'd have to at least try to make friends with them, "So where is he anyway?"

"He went out to do the groceries," Tay eyed up the girl cautiously, if she upset Kisame in any way then Tay was going to be the one to suffer in her training, "I thought you left the village, why did you come back?"

"I bought a house in this village, it needs some work done on it but I'll get by. I wanted to tell Kisame the news and see how he reacts."

"He'll be over the moon; he hasn't stopped talking about you since you left. It's really freaking annoying. How did you guys meet anyway?"

"He and Itachi-san were out on some mission for the Akatsuki and were taking a break in one of the local hot springs. My family owned it. I had been training in the shinobi practices for years and was the body guard, I noticed the cloaks and immediately took action," she recalled her fondest of memories, even letting a small smile creep onto her face, "I spotted him down one of the halls, I attacked, he fought back, and I got my ass kicked. He said I had spunk and let me live. I followed him around the whole time and on the last day they stayed there he asked me out for lunch. He always made sure to visit me whenever they came through and we just kinda grew from there."

Her chakra flickered a navy blue, catching Abi's eye, "But?"

"But then I heard that he died. I was heartbroken to put it simply. I left the springs and went searching for something, not knowing what, just something. Then I hear that he's moved into this stupid village and I find him surrounded by squawking teenaged girls and very much alive."

"So that's why you're always so pissy."

"Nope, that's just me."

"Ah…"

"Yeah," she finished her tall tale with a small sigh before shaking it out of her system, "So Kisame is out and he's not planning to be back anytime soon?"

"Actually he should be back anytime," Tay motioned at the door as it opened, "see, there he is."

"Hey Kisame."

"Akari?" the fish man put the mass amounts of food on the counter top and moved over to place his hands on her shoulders, "This is a surprise, what are you doing?"

"Getting to know your little sisters."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," making a snap judgement she got out of her chair of and held onto his hands, "and now you owe me lunch, yes?"

"Yes, let's go."

Tay and Abi smirked at each other as the finally happy couple left the house, they made a mental note to find Akari's house later and see what kind of mess it was in. After all another girl could become part of the Akatsuki, and they were not going to pass that opportunity up for a second.


	41. Chapter 40

Strong hands kneaded the bruised and battered back that belonged to Elle, the small girl purred her appreciation to the girl above her making Tay chuckle lightly, "_Did you just purr?_"

"_It feels so nice…_"

"_Why the hell are you so sore anyway?_"

"_Itachi thought it would be fun to have Lee and Gai Sensei train with me the other day,_" Elle moaned as Tay pressed a bit harder in a particularly sore spot, the tension giving way to the pressure and helping to ease the pain, "_I lost count of how many trees I was flung into a tree, or how many times I got punched slash kicked_."

"_Geez they really let you have it._"

"_Of course, it was 'youthful'._"

May groaned and turned away from the laughing duo, lounging back on the tree she chose to sit on in the training grounds, she had other matters to concern herself with. That dream she had was bugging her, what did it mean? Was it the drugs? What did it all mean? She rapped her fingers repeatedly on the rough bark, there had to be a logical explanation behind it…suddenly she snapped, the last person she saw was Kakashi and she missed home‼ That had it be it, and the only reason she was getting so 'intimate' with him was because the last thing she watched in her world was the season seven of House where he and Cuddy get together. It all made perfect sense to her now, there was absolutely no other explanation…

Then there was Abi watching her three friends. She knew May was over thinking something by the mere expression on her face, and the other two were behaving normally so why did she feel so…off? She hated that feeling, something bad always happened when she felt this way, the last time she felt like this Elle nearly died…so what was going to happen now?

* * *

Foreign shinobi placed themselves at their set positions all over the village. They all knew the plan, they had been briefed days ago, so no one was going to screw it up. If they did they didn't know who's wrath the feared more, Orochimaru's, Kabuto's or Tobi's

…the majority feared Tobi the most…

The entire plan was to get the village on edge, attempt to put the two current villagers against each other, leaving a chance of several openings for further skirmishes. They weren't going to destroy the village today, they all knew this, they just needed to place seeds of doubt in the local shinobi, once the seeds were planted a like-minded plant will grow and divide Konoha and Suna. Ending the alliance of the five great villages. But a sub-mission was to locate and engage with the Akatsuki girls, Tobi wanted them and they knew it, however they also feared the other Akatsuki members, making that part an 'S' rank mission. Tobi's order was to separate them as much as possible, he was waiting in the shadows for them to do so, the subordinates didn't know what the powerful Uchiha wanted with the girls but small pangs of pity went out to them.

Each shinobi looked to the sky, a black crow squawked its call, the sign had been called, and the skirmish had begun. They attacked the closet person to them, man, woman or child, letting the village now they had arrived.

The battle had begun.

* * *

Clashes of battle made May's head turn swiftly; all the girls had heard the fight begin and readied themselves. It was the first day they had been left to themselves and now the village was under attack, they couldn't believe the irony of it all. The enemy jumped down from the trees, one enemy for each girl, and circled around the four young kunoichi. The girls responded by pressing together in their own circle, facing out at the enemy without any fear. The reaction they received was somewhat expected, "You four are coming with us."

"Er," May looked at Abi, "Are we going with them?"

Abi shook her head, "No, I don't believe so."

"At least not without a fight?"

"Yes indeed."

"All right then," May swiftly moved her hands through several different hand signs, raising her fingers to her lips and glaring hatefully at her opponent, "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu."

Each girl attacked her opponent individually and full forced, having been trained by the Akatsuki proved to be a great advantage as the girls matched their unknown opponents in skill…but not experience. They couldn't see that the enemy was slowly drawing them apart, separating the girls and any chance they had of support when they needed it.

* * *

The harsh clash of metal against metal rang clear through the dark patch of forest Tay found herself in. She was outside the village, that much she knew, however how far out she wasn't quite sure. Her opponent was a skilled in Taijutsu which was great for her. It meant he couldn't get close enough to hurt her without getting cut by her short sword in the process. Her opponent sent his leg flying high, Tay ducked and rolled out of his range, he landed and looked curiously at her, "Which one are you?"

"Tay," she stated blatantly, she didn't want to play any more games than she had to, "What the hell do you want with us?"

"We don't want you, Tobi-sama does."

Tay drew in a breath, of course it had something to do with him, she shook it out of her head before glaring at the man before her, "Get out of this village before I cut you to pieces."

"Scared of him? You should be."

"I'm not scared! If I ever see him again I **will** cut him into oblivion."

"Keep telling yourself that kid," the man placed his hands on his hips, obviously bored of the conversation, "Now are you coming or not?"

Tay couldn't believe her ears; the man just expected her to follow him like a stupid dog, it made her furious to the core, "OF COURSE NOT‼" she ran to the man, blinded by anger, and swung wildly. Her sword flew into a tree and remained stationary, Kisame had lectured her on the force behind her swing and now she was beginning to wish she had listened to what he said.

The man gripped Tay's hands before they could leave the handle and trapped them there. He kicked into her knee, making it crack loudly but not break, Tay screamed in pain and fell back once he released her hands. She rolled out of the way every time he reached down to grab her, she knew she wasn't going to last long like this, she was too slow this way. The man laughed at her predicament, finding a relived joy that his opponent was useless without her sword, "Face it, you're done here."

Tay merely continued to roll out of his reach, rolling in a full circle so she could get back to her sword. She re-grabbed the handle and used it to pull herself back to her feet, pain echoed in her knee, but she chose to ignore it and focus on getting her sword. Only problem being it wouldn't budge.

"Just give up already."

Tay dived underneath the blade as the man reached for her again, his hand wrapped firmly around her shirt, she gripped the handle with both hands, refusing to let go. The man growled lightly and tried to yank her off; it did nothing but slowly edge the sword out of its wooden prison. Tay gripped harder as her enemy threw her away from the tree, sword in hand, and into another tree in the distance. She used the sword as a make shift crutch so she could stare down her opponent, "What does **he** want with us?"

"Look I just don't want to get my ass killed, it's nothing personal."

Tay knew she didn't have much time, she had to act now. She charged forwards, dragging her sword along the ground, feeling the friction tingle through her and watching as the sparks of sliver swords appeared around the throat of her opponent…

The man jumped around the mini swords before they could break his skin, he jumped towards Tay and aimed down at her. She moved out of the way quickly but managed to stay on her two feet, she saw only one option left, before her opponent could react she hit the back of his head with the handle of her sword with all of her force. The man fell to the ground, Tay hitting him again to make sure he was unconscious, and left Tay to sigh relief. She leaned against a nearby tree and panted heavily, the pain in her knee the only thing keeping her conscious.

"_Fuuuccckkk._"

Tay laughed at herself before turning in what she hoped was the direction of the village. She needed a couch, and an ice pack…or a heat pack…which ever would help her sore knee.

* * *

White flashed everywhere. Nothing but plain white. It frustrated Abi slightly, white was the colour of laziness, the man wasn't trying. She had been using all the different kinds of Genjutsu that she knew but it didn't seem to be fazing him, she couldn't pin where his chakra was weakest because it was all white and plain.

"Come on kid just give it up already. Genjutsu doesn't work on me."

Abi puffed heavily, she was dizzy and tired, and she needed to take this guy out now if she wanted to not get kidnapped. She stared harder at him; she needed a different colour so she could see the fading, "So you're just a puppet, a pawn that can be easily disposed of. It's pathetic."

The white fizzled and darkened to a light red before returning to white again, "What game are you playing at?"

"Just calling it as I see it."

"You're fighting a losing war," the colour darkened for longer this time, but it was lighter by his right arm…

Abi swallowed the lump in her throat, she was growing dizzier and found it even harder to breathe, she formed several hand signs to initiate the Jutsu, "At least I have my own free will."

The red blazed again, she sent her Jutsu directly to the faded area by his arm. It took mere minutes for the man to fall unconscious, Abi not far along behind him. She collapsed on all fours, panting heavily against her burning lungs. Her eyes began to water heavily, blurring all of her vision till it was nothing more than a mirage of colours mushed together, her head pounding like a jackhammer on concrete. She shook again, about to collapse to the ground completely but a pair of strong hands caught her shoulders and pulled her back.

"Hey, hey Abi-chan. Where does it hurt?"

"My head," she gasped painfully, distinguishing the voice as Iruka's and relaxing, "It won't stop."

"Okay, keep breathing. The others will be here soon. Do you think you can stand?"

"Yes, but not by myself."

"Okay, I'll help you," Iuka wrapped her arm over his shoulder and pulled her up onto her feet.

Abi stood shocked, the throbbing in her head had lessened dramatically but one factor remained, frightening her to the core, "Iruka…"

"What is it?"

"I can't see."

* * *

"_Fuck off, fuck off, fuck off,_" no matter how many times she said it Elle's opponent didn't give up, she ducked as kunai flew in her direction, "You know, this is a bad way to pick up chicks."

Her opponent grunted and suddenly appeared behind her, Elle squeaked, ducking just in time, and rolled well out of the way. The man she was facing held up a small scrap of cloth he ripped from her cloak as she dodged his attack; he threw it on the ground and smirked, "You're slower than you think."

"Maybe I'm just getting fat."

"You're annoying."

"And you're an asshole," Elle closed her eyes and clenched her fists, "_I'm angry, I'm angry, I'm angry, and I'm going to electrify this guy._"

A fist was inches away from her face when she opened her eyes finally, Elle punched it will all her force before flying backwards. Several locals, who weren't ninja, watched from their hiding places, a large beastly looking man was taking on a tiny girl and obviously winning. The man shook his fist, water droplets flying off, making Elle grumble and rub her own sore fist, "_I can't even control my own emotions? This sucks._"

"Quit talking to yourself and fight like a man."

"One; I'm a girl, and two;" Elle jumped on top on a nearby building; finally realising she had been pushed back well into the village, and brushed the sweat from her forehead away, "Go fuck yourself."

"Brat."

"Dinosaur."

"What?"

"Bye‼" Elle jumped down on the other side of the building, thinking about stuff that scared her so her chakra disappeared, and took off down the road. She dived through familiar alleyways and dead streets, searching for somewhere to hide. There didn't look like there was anyone around to help her search so she ended up in a rubbish bin down one of the alleyways, it smelled rancid but hid her completely, she held her breath and focused on staying hidden until the coast was absolutely clear. She was hoping that it was going to be really, really soon.

* * *

"Raiton: Raikou Oonami," May managed to yell to one of her opponents as she jumped over another one. She didn't know but somehow she got stuck with two opponents and neither was giving her any space to even breathe.

A hand latched out and grabbed her ponytail, pulling her back roughly and laughing at her painful squeak, "Looks like we got one boys."

"About damn time," the man May tried to electrocute slowly picked himself off the ground, his partner and the man holding May began to tie her hands behind her back, "What the hell took you so long to get here?"

"I ran into a spot of trouble."

The man beside him scoffed his laughter, tightening the ropes on May's hands, "Like what?"

"Hatake Kakashi."

"The copy ninja? And you beat him?"

"Of course not, he was far too skilled of an opponent," May smirked as she picked up on what was happening. A kunai flew through the rope and a puff of smoke later Kakashi stood behind her happily, "and too devilishly handsome to even compare to."

The two enemies jumped back into formation, glaring hatefully at the man who held May's shoulders. She in return sighed and shook her head, "May I ask as to why you tied me up in the first place if that was you all along?"

"It's not often I get to save a damsel in distress, it was more fitting if you were to be tied up."

"You're an ass."

"An ass that saved your ass."

"Yeah whatever, now are you going to take both of these guys or what?"

Kakashi chuckled and scratched the side of his face casually, "Well…"

"What?"

"I was hoping you could take those two while I take care of the group that followed me."

May sagged a small defeat, "You couldn't help yourself, could you? Kakashi Sensei."

"Where's the fun in doing nothing?"

"Great," May charged forwards to her opponents again, racing through the hands signs of the newest Jutsu Itachi had taught her. Water rumbled in a nearby pond, taking the formation of a roaring lizard, "Suiton: Suiryūdan _no Jutsu."_

The water dragon crashed against May's opponents as Kakashi's arrived. She ended up backed up against his back. She moved with him, ducking and diving as he did, fighting in complete unison as the man who had frustrated her for such a long time. She didn't understand how. Kakashi groaned lightly as he pushed back one of his opponents, quickly looking over his shoulder to check up on May, "How are you holding up?"

"Just fine," May ducked with him as the enemy punched each other, "Do you really think now is the best time to be talking?"

"Actually this is the perfect time; I've been meaning to ask you something for a while now."

"Really?"

"Yes, May you're a frustrating woman who's stubborn as a mule and doesn't know how to take no for an answer…"

"You have a way with words…"

"…you're annoyingly persistent, violent, and loud and always contradicting every word I say…"

"If you're going to say something to say just say it already."

"Will you go out with me?"

"What?!" May was too shocked to remember to duck, the fist of her opponent hitting her square in the jaw and sending her flying metres away from Kakashi. Kakashi went to go after her but his opponents attacked all at once, diverting him from helping May. Leaving her to fend for herself. But she was so tired.

Too tired…

She couldn't fight back to her two opponents so she went with her only option, run. She turned and ran as fast as she could, Kakashi's question floating around distractingly in her mind. Not even looking to where she was going, just wherever the enemies weren't. She didn't let up for a moment; she had to run unless she wanted to be taken to Tobi. She never wanted to go back to him. She couldn't. An unseen root grabbed May's foot and pulled her to the ground, she squeaked in surprise more than at the sudden pain. A black gloved offered itself to May, she didn't dare look at the face…she could already tell from the voice…

"Need a hand May-san?"

"Tobi-sama…"

* * *

Black cloaks rustled against the soft wind, Pein and Konan criss-crossed their way through the village in search of the girls. They had gone to the training grounds to find them once the attack had begun but got diverted and now couldn't find them anywhere. It was starting to worry them.

"Pein-sama‼"

The duo froze at the sound of the call, the sensei they recognised as Umino Iruka from the academy bounding towards them with Abi by his side. They raced over immediately, Konan grabbing Abi and Pein fighting the small urge to hug the man in front of him, "Where did you find her?"

"Just before the edge of the village, she was fighting and now," he sighed and looked between Konan and Abi, "now she says she can't see."

"Abi-chan…"

Abi nodded and clasped at Konan for the feeling of safety, "It's all blurred, it's never happened before. I don't know what to do…"

"Relax Abi-chan, I'll take you to the hospital right now," Konan moved her arm around Abi's waist, nodding softly to Pein with a clearly worried expression on her face, "Do you think you can find the others?"

"I will, don't worry, I'll bring them straight to you."

She moved off without a second bidding, Iruka directly behind her, so Pein turned and started his search for the last three girls. Worrying even more after seeing Abi's injury. He dived through several different streets, but found only shaking locals or enemies which he disposed of easily. His head turned in a flash when he felt a familiar signal rush at him, Elle, who had been hiding herself from the feel of it. He quickly changed course to her direction, finding her being pulled out of a rubbish bin by a brutish looking man. The man just had to take one look at Pein before holding a weapon to Elle's throat, "Back away now."

Elle began to shake uncontrollably under the familiar position; she screamed at the top of her lungs and lashed out at the man holding her. Pein took advantage of the small distraction and went straight for the enemy's jugular, pulling Elle's head into his chest so she didn't have to watch the blood oozing out of the freshly torn skin.

"Pein-sama…"

"It's okay Elle-chan, you're safe," he cooed gently and rubbed the head of the softly weeping child, "Are you hurt at all?"

"No."

"That's good. Did you see any of the others?"

"Not since the training grounds. We got split up."

"I see that."

"Pein-sama un," Deidara came bounding out of nowhere, his face paled and a completely unconscious Tay lying in his arms. He scurried over to Pein and gently held her out to him, clearly unsure about what to do.

Pein brushed away some sweat that still lined her brow, she didn't look to be in any kind of serious pain, "She's just exhausted, take her to the hospital to double check."

"What about the others un?"

"Konan has already taken Abi-chan there; I've got Elle-chan with me."

"May-chan un?"

"I'm not sure," Pein swung Elle onto his back and pointed towards the hospital, "We'll take these two there, you can look after them all while Konan and I go out for May-chan. She's a smart girl and hopefully can stay out of trouble until we find her."

* * *

"Tobi-sama…"

"Glad to see you remember who I am."

May crawled back and into a tree, her path blocked and panic rushing heated through her veins, "What…what do you want?"

"Can't I come have a friendly visit, my how you've changed," Tobi sighed a fake nostalgia, grabbing May by the arm and roughly pulling her to her feet, "When we first met you were such a quiet thing, didn't need attention or tending to, but now look at you. You've grown so strong and beautiful, even the copy ninja has been watching you…"

May shook again, her thoughts wandered to Kakashi. He must've liked her, he asked her out, he wouldn't joke about something like that especially at the time he did so. She cleared her throat and looked at the bottom of Tobi's mask, "I don't know what you mean."

Tobi growled and pushed her roughly back against the tree, "Don't play me for a fool, I'm warning you now to stay away from Hatake. You aren't to interact with him unless it is avoid any suspicion."

"You…you can't tell me what to do."

"See that's where you are wrong May-san, because I own you, I own all of you. Abi, Elle, Tay and you," he slowly slid his hand under her shirt, the feel of cold metal against her skin telling May that he wasn't here to hear excuses, "You all belong to me. You are my pets and you will do as your master tells you to."

May swallowed loudly, the kunai began to trace light patterns around each of her vital organs, but what she swallowed was her fear, "Never."

The dark man sighed gently, he had let his anger for Kakashi get the better of him but he came here for a reason. He pulled the kunai out and put it away, "Listen very carefully, you **are** going to do what I say or else."

"What?"

"You remember little Elle-chan right, the little girl who you are so fond of. Remember how much of a mess you were when you thought she was dead," he ran his hand alongside of her paling face, "that's right; I heard you weeping at night when you thought everyone was asleep. It brought you so much pain. Remember it?"

May nodded softly, scared to see where he was going.

"Well, here's the thing, I nearly killed her once. I can do it again. And I won't stop there because then there are your other two friends, the easily overpowered Abi and my little Tay. You care about them both right? I'll kill them all unless you do what I say. You know I can."

"Fine," May had given up, she didn't want to see her friends hurt, "I get it okay."

"Now you have one option, come with me and I'll keep them safe. It's as simple as that. You come with me now and I'll come back for them, you can all live at the hideout like nothing has changed."

"You're just going to kill us and then the others will hunt you down."

"Why would I kill my pets?" Tobi chuckled lightly, it scared May to think that the man before her believed every word that he said, he was a monster, "I would never destroy something that I own. But you do bring up a good point, the others would chase if I took you now. So you are going to stay here and I'll be back after I sort out a proper plan, once that has happened I will rid you of any **loose ends**. Keep your ears open May-san."

May watched as he calmly walked away, she was shaking to the core and wished that it was just a bad dream but his voice echoed on…

"And stay away from Kakashi."

She couldn't hide anywhere; he was always going to be watching. May didn't even register what was happening to her anymore. She saw black and red, heard the faint ripple of voices, but didn't fully understand it. She let herself be taken away, not knowing where to, her only concern was that of those she held closest to her.

Sounds of battle had finally died off in the village, the enemy retreating after what looked to be an embarrassing defeat. They didn't know how much of a success it actually was.


	42. Chapter 41

**A.N. I have internet again so I can update sooner! Yay for internet! Anyways I really, really wanted to update because everyone has been amazing with their reviews and it jut makes me so happy, especially ones with suggestions. I will do my best to make everyone happy because you're still reading this so YAY!  
Any suggestions feel free to leave :)**

* * *

A heavy weight bore down on May as she tried to roll over, she painfully opened her eyes in an attempt to discover what this strange weight was. She laughed lightly and poked the sleeping rock, "_Elle, what are you doing here?_"

"_Hm? Sleeping…_"

"_I'm pretty sure you weren't there last night._"

"_I know._"

"_You're not going to move are you?_"

"_No._"

"_Thought as much_," May laughed gently but remained stationary, softly patting Elle's head until she fell back to sleep. May didn't even realise Elle had crawled into her bed last night, she must still be shaken up about Tobi. No matter how much she tried to pretend she wasn't. She decided to get some sleep as well but was interrupted by a knock on the door, "Come in."

The door creaked open, Itachi's eyes popping in curiously, "Have you seen Elle-chan?"

"She's right here."

"Good," he walked in and shut the door behind him, "How are you holding up?"

"I'm just fine."

"Don't lie to me May-chan."

"I'm not."

He sighed softly and sat beside her, brushing Elle's head while he did so, and held her hand with his free one, "You were completely out of it when the others found you. I've never seen you like that before."

"Your point being?"

"What's eating you?"

May sighed softly as she rubbed her temples, "You're not going to let this go are you?"

"Not until I get a truthful answer."

"Fine," she gave up completely, Itachi was one of the most stubborn people she had ever met, "Just don't get mad at me."

* * *

"So what are we going to do? We all know Tobi was behind this," Pein growled through clenched teeth, the girls nearly got taken away because of his negligence, he had to keep a closer eye on them all now, "that means he has a force of skilled shinobi behind him. We can't just stand by and let this happen."

Tsunade sighed and ran her hand along her cold desk, pushing her hidden anger into the lifeless wood, "Calm down, we won't get anywhere like that."

"The girls could've gotten hurt worse than they are. Tay's knee is broken and Abi is-"

"Calm down Pein, Tay's knee is only fractured and I have yet to examine Abi. I think your main concern should be May, she doesn't seem like the type to frighten easy."

Kakashi perked slightly, raising his hand to volunteer, "I can go check on her if you wish Hokage-sama."

"Not now Kakashi, we need you here."

They copy ninja frowned deeply, he was worried about May. And he still hadn't got an answer from her. He just really wanted to see her and any excuse would do. The Kazekage felt similarly but for a different girl, "Let's try to sort this out as quickly as possible."

"Agreed, I have patients I need to visit," the blonde Hokage opened her desk and pulled out four different coloured scrolls, every one of them were blank, "These are differently coloured for a reason. I'm going to send some Anbu out to scout old hideouts of the Akatsuki, they will report back and the reports will be recorded on the green scrolls. The blue scroll will be for all of the Akatsuki, including the girls, you will each write all you know about Tobi, his motives, his true appearance, and his personality. The orange is for all the ninja who fought in the war to record their memories of it, Tobi planned all of that out so maybe we can pick up his way of thinking. Lastly the purple scroll is for the anti-Tobi group, the group will be in charge of deciding what course of action to take, you will record on this scroll all of your conversations and you will also have access to every other coloured scroll."

Pein picked up both the purple and blue scroll, putting them both in his pocket as a hint that he wanted to finish the meeting, "Is that everything Hokage-sama?"

"I also want Nara Shikamaru to join the group."

"Done."

"I thought you would put up bit more of a fight…"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures; as long as the boy promises not to use any of the girls I don't have a problem with him."

"I see…"

"Are we finished?" Kakashi always classed himself as a patient man but he was starting to become frustrated at how long the meeting was taking, "Hokage-sama."

"Yes," Tsunade started with a nod, "but I would like a private word with you Kakashi Sensei."

The others departed with a quick bow as Kakashi did his best to supress a whiny moan. He should have known this was coming. She leaned into her hands, eyes smirking at the last man standing, "Thirteen years."

Eyes grew wide in surprise before closing again in confusion, "I'm sorry what?"

"Do you think thirteen years is too long?"

"Well…yes it is a long time…"

"Too long?"

"No. I don't think so," Kakashi chose his words carefully as he picked up on what the Hokage was trying to say, "Thirteen years allows enough time for a man to mature and learn from his past mistakes. He can also grow feelings for someone without having to be interrogated by his superiors."

"I don't know what you are talking about…"

"Then can I leave?"

"Feel free to," Tsunade smirked the smirk of a lady with a cunning plan, she waited until the door was wide open and Kakashi was part way out before yelling at the top of her lungs, "SAY HI TO MAY-SAN FOR ME YOU LITTLE LOVE BIRD YOU."

* * *

"Stop doing that," Tay squealed quietly.

Deidara kissed the bandaged joint again with a smirk. She was still lying on her back in the hospital bed while Deidara had her leg in the air so he could kiss her wound better, on all fours on top of her, which probably looked like a really bad position if someone were to enter the room.

"Deidara, stop it…"

His lips softly pressed against the wound, sending a small shiver of pain through Tay's core that was greatly out matched by the blood rushing to her face. She wasn't a pervert and didn't want people to think she was either.

"Please…"

The sound of the opening door made the duo freeze in the suggestive position, Deidara leaning in more with Tay's leg at his hip as he tried to place it down. He didn't know why he stopped there but he did just like prisoner being snapped during his escape.

"Um…Am I interrupting something?" Hidan mused at the door.

"We… it's not what you think! We…I"

"I didn't say you had to stop."

"WHAT?!"

"Don't stop," Hidan shut the door so he could calmly lean against it, "I'll just watch from here."

Tay turned the colour of an overly ripe tomato while Deidara had the look of murder in his eyes. He slowly put Tay's leg down, "What?"

"I'm observing, please continue as you were."

"We don't want you fucking watching un."

"Fine," Hidan rose his hands up in defeat before moving down slowly to remove his cloak, "I'll join in too."

"THE FUCK?!"

Tay's face somehow deepened in its red shade as the words caught up to her, "Ah…no…you…ah…too many…"

Cloak now fully removed, Hidan crossed the room and quickly pulled Deidara off the bed, "You heard the girl, too many. I can finish up here."

"HIDAN YOU'RE A FUCKING DEAD MAN UN‼"

* * *

An unreadable expression crossed Itachi's face as May finished telling him the events of the previous day. He calmly closed his eyes, thinking about his happy place, before looking carefully at her again, "Does anyone else know?"

"You really think I would tell them?"

"Why wouldn't you?"

"They'd freak out of course."

"I see," Itachi closed his eyes once more before slowly getting off of the bed, "You have to tell the others."

"No."

"I'm not asking."

"I'm still refusing," May rebutted stubbornly, "because no one can tell me what to do."

Itachi stared at May, "It's either I tell them or you do it yourself."

"Fine," May crossed her arms angrily, "do what you want."

"You are going to tell them?"

"No."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No and can we not do this?" May exasperated, "you are NOT Kakashi Sensei."

"What?" the Jounin stood in the doorway, "Not calling me 'Hatake-sama' anymore?"

"Pardon, HATAKE-SAMA?"

"I think I should go now," Itachi stated slowly.

"Yes that woul-"

"NO!" May interrupted Kakashi with a frustrated blush, "I want you to stay."

The forgotten Elle stirred from her sleep, "Yelling, stop. Please."

"_Oh shit_," May whispered, "_sorry Elle, did I wake you?"_

"_No, of course not. It was the magic fairy next to me that woke by punching me in the solar plexus."_

"_I said I was sorry. No need to get all sarcastic on me_."

"And a up we get," Kakashi picked a gurgling Elle up, passing her to Itachi, "Take her and go."

"Wait! Itachi-san, don't me with THIS guy‼"

Itachi, with Elle safely cuddled up in his arms, nodded to Kakashi then cooed, "Say bye to May-san, Elle-chan."

"Bye-bye May-may," Elle dreamily waved at the window.

May facepalmed, "Bye nuthead and wanker."

Smiling, Itachi closed the door behind him. May has never insulted Kakashi in that manner before despite how 'angry' she gets with him. Naïve child.

"So," Kakashi planted himself in the chair next to the bed, "how are you doing?"

"What do you want? I'm not in the mood for games."

"The thing is…you never gave me an answer."

May groaned, she had almost forgotten about that, "And you want an answer right now?"

"If you would be so kind."

"An honest one?"

"Yes…"

"Simply, no."

"So what time shou- wait…" he froze midsentence as her words finally caught up to him, "no?"

"I don't want to go out with you Hatake-sama, so please leave me alone."

"But why not?"

May frowned in disbelief, the man wasn't just going to take no for an answer was he? "Because I don't like you."

"Why not?"

"Would you just leave?"

"You want me to go?"

"Yes."

Kakashi smiled successfully, "So what time should I pick you up?"

"Excuse me?"

"You said yes so what time?"

May swung her legs out of the bed so she could face the smirking man front on, "I said no."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"See, yes."

"Wha-?" May slapped herself in the face, "What is it with you men?"

Kakashi replied with a simple smile, he could tell something was off with her so he was going to give her some time to change her mind. Starting by getting into one of their childish arguments. He heard a small whimper and looked carefully at May; she had doubled over and was clutching painfully at her stomach. He rushed over and placed his hand over hers, pushing her face up so his eyes met hers, "May-san, what's wrong?"

"Kakashi…"

"May!"

"AH‼ KAKASHI DON'T TOUCH ME THERE‼‼"

"AYE?!"

The door burst open and a frantic yet angry looking Pein came running in. Kakashi tried to pull away and explain the situation but May had grasped firmly onto his hands, his pulling only made it look worse than it actually was.

"AH KAKAHI-SAN‼"

"KAKASHI LET HER GO!" Pein didn't want to move too far forwards and see something he really didn't want to see.

"I'm trying Pein-sama."

"NO THAT HURTS!"

"KAKASHI!"

"I'm really sorry."

"EEK DON'T TWIST IT."

Pein's fist came flying free and fast. The great copy ninja of Konoha sent soaring through the hospital window, passers-by in the streets swearing they saw blood but he wasn't wounded. Pein slowly turned away from the window before grabbing May's shoulders in a worried fashion, "Are you alright May-chan?"

May kept her head down, "Is he gone?"

"Yes, he's gone."

"Great," May's head snapped up as if nothing happened, "did you want to see me about something?"

"Well, um," Pein was clearly confused, "Abi-san can't see and…"

May leapt out of bed, "What? Where is she? Let's go already!"

* * *

All the scans and blood tests in the world couldn't show what was wrong with Abi's eyes, Tsunade sighed to herself as she wrapped the young blonde's eyes with pure white bandages. She couldn't tell what was wrong with the girl and she knew that her answer wasn't going to be good enough for any of the Akatsuki members. Especially her friends. Abi's head turned towards the silent Kage, a worried frown was the only thing that could be seen beneath the bandages, "You don't know what's wrong with me do you?"

"I'm afraid not, this is something I never seen before. Or even heard of. I'll have to do a bit of research before I can go any further otherwise I may damage your eyes further."

"So they're not destroyed?"

"No, I can tell you that your eyes are perfectly fine, undamaged actually, but it's like your brain had just decided to disconnect from them but if that happened then your eyesight would have gone but you can see blurs right?"

"Yeah. The others won't be happy about your vague answer will they?"

"I'm afraid they won't."

Abi thought carefully for a minute, she needed to give her fellow blonde a little more time to figure it out, "Why don't you tell them that the chakra lines behind my eyes have been broken? They're fixable but you're not sure how long it will take so I will have to remain in hospital. That way you have more time to figure it out without suspicion."

"Chakra lines?" Tsunade thought carefully about Abi's statement, the thought hadn't yet crossed her mind but it seemed the most likely that that could've been the main factor behind her dismantled eye sight, "Have you studied medical Ninjutsu at all?"

"A little bit but no one in the Akatsuki knows enough about it to teach me properly."

"I will gladly teach you. You have a knack for this it seems but you just needed the right person to tell you what to do, and I'd hate to just brush you aside because you're an Akatsuki member. There are too few medical ninja in this world."

The door burst open, interrupting the last of their conversation, as May crashed straight to Abi's bed followed by slightly confused looking Pein. May began to chirp rapidly at Abi in English so Pein looked at the Hokage, "Do you know what's wrong?"

"I do but it will take a while to fix."

"How long?"

"As long as it takes Pein-san, or do you want me to rush and risk it?"

"Not at all."

Over by the bed May was tracing her fingers over the white bandages out of worry, "_Are you going to be okay?_"

"_I'll be fine; this is probably the best thing that's ever happened._"

"_Why?_"

Abi's smile outshone the bright sun that leaked its way into the hospital room, "_I've got someone to teach me medical Ninjutsu._"

"_Who? The Hokage?_"

"_Yeah._"

"_Wow!_"

"May-chan, time to go," Pein called quickly before turning back to Hokage with a small smirk, "I'll take May and Elle home with me, I leave the others in your care."

"Certainly."

Pein pushed May all the way though the lined corridors, keen to get home and share the news about Abi's recovery with the others. Of course once they got outside they both decided that Hidan could wait to get the news later. His cloak was acting as a noose as he hung out from Tay's room's window. May sighed to herself and shook it off, "Twenty bucks says that he tried to put the moves on Tay-chan and Deidara-san hung him there."

"I'll take you up on that. I'd like to think that Deidara was at home like I ordered him to be."

"I wouldn't hold your breathe Pein-sama."


	43. Chapter 42

Hands swiped frantically over restricting material. Mouths locked. Tongues curled around, trailing hard against one another's mouth. Clothes torn desperately off to the underwear, landing scattered around the small room. Blood roared amongst short gasps and rough kisses. It had been so long since they had been left alone with each other. Completely alone with no one coming to visit. Those visits had left the couple with less time to be with each other, something that they had not experienced since they moved in together. The taller one pulled away and stared at his partner with a smirk. He nudged his hips into his lover's, earning a blushing moan and tripped them onto the bed. Pinning the other person under him by the wrists.

"See, Teme rhymes with seme," Sasuke grinned hungrily.

"Well, Sasuke ends with uke," Naruto bit back.

"And whose on top of who?" the black haired male increased his grip and licked down Naruto's neck.

Naruto shivered happily, he opened his eyes and stared up at the black haired male on top of him, knowing Sasuke's weakness and moaned out his name slowly, "Sasuke…"

Sasuke lowered himself to kiss his lover, weakening his grasp on Naruto's wrists enough to be flipped over and the positions reversed. The blonde quickly attached his mouth onto Sasuke's nipple, drawing out a small grunt for the youngest Uchiha, "Damn it Naruto…"

"You know you like it."

"You're the uke."

"I was last time."

"I don't even remember last time."

"Shut up and take it like a man," Naruto slowly slid his hand underneath Sasuke's boxers, watching happily as his best friend thrust into the hand. He lowered himself back to work on Sasuke's chest, his hand slowly pumping the organ between his legs.

"Hn, Naruto."

The two teenaged boys finally had the time to be intimate, the one thing they had been craving for months now, and they were going to make every second count. They were too busy focusing on satisfying each other that they didn't hear the front door open, or the footsteps draw closer to the bedroom…

"Hey otouto, I came to-" the door opened and let in the older of the two Uchiha's, obviously preoccupied then saw something he definitely was not expecting; his dearest little brother pinned down with another man's hand down his pants, "Sasuke?!"

"Itachi?!" Sasuke sat up suddenly, shoving Naruto's face into the bedding to hide him, and tried to cover up his naked torso, "What the hell?"

"I could ask you the same thing, you asked me to come visit but you look busy so I'll come back later…"

"No wait," Sasuke failed to get up and chase his retreating brother because Naruto's hand was still firmly pumping his still hard erection. He fell back onto the bed with a groan, "Hurry up and finish so I can go after him."

"How would you like it if I said that to you?" Naruto pouted childishly but did as he was told.

"Shit Dobe."

"Told you you're the uke."

* * *

"Hiya Panda-chan," Elle chirped happily, barging into the Kazekage's office without permission, "I brought you your lunch."

"Er," Gaara blushed, "Thank you Elle-chan."

"Everybody is falling in love," the Hokage sighed to herself before turning back to face the young Kazekage, "I'll come back to talk to you about this matter later, when I know more about it."

Gaara nodded, "I apologise for the inconvenience, Hokage-sama."

"Not at all."

He waited patiently while she left the room before turning to face the warm box of food and smiling face behind it. He gratefully accepted the box and opened it slowly, raising a surprised non-existent eyebrow, "What is this?"

"Zuri, or is it sunagimo? Anyway, I made it myself. Temari-san said that you like it."

"I do…"

"Then what's wrong?"

"There's only enough for one. Didn't you make any for yourself?"

"Gizzard? No thank you. You have a strange taste in food."

He smiled gratefully and put the box on his desk, his smile widening at her disappointed face, "I'm not going sit here and eat in front of you. I can take you out."

"Not a good idea," Elle jumped onto Gaara's desk and sat facing him, "I'm supposed to be out training with Itachi-kun but he went off to get something from Sasuke-kun so I snuck away. I'm still sore from the other day so I made you lunch and now we're here."

"So you're hiding again?"

"Not hiding…just," Elle waved her hand in an absent minded circle, trying to conjure the right word, "avoiding."

"And you chose to use my office as your avoidance location because…?"

"Why would I avoid them anywhere else?"

"I'm not sure how to interoperate that."

Elle leaned over and pecked a kiss on his forehead, "You should feel special. A special happy Kage."

"Sure."

"Good Panda-chan."

"Why Panda-chan? Gaara is just fine."

Elle smirked softly at him and put the lid back on the container, "Gaara is your name but I want to call you something special, and I like Panda-chan because that's what you are. Cute, cuddly and absolutely adorable."

"I have never been described like that before…"

"Can I describe you like that?"

"I don't think it's the right image for a Kage to have. Cute…cuddly…" he slowly rose out of his seat, getting closer to her with every word, "and especially adorable are not exactly ideal for the Kazekage. Considering that…"

"You were once an evil Jinchuriki that was seen as a weapon by your village?"

"You know about that?"

"Yeah. Does it matter that I do?"

He stopped moving and just looked at her, "It doesn't bother you?"

"Is it supposed to?"

"Normally."

"But Panda-chan," Elle wrapped her arms around his neck so he couldn't start backing away like he wanted to, "I'm not normal. You should know that by now."

"Hmm."

She kissed the tip of his nose before moving down to his lips, ignoring the cold response he was giving her. Elle sighed softly, realising that she had upset him, and pressed her forehead into his shoulder. Neither party moved, neither knowing what to say or do. Eventually Elle slid off the desk so she could hug him properly, "I'm sorry Gaara."

"What for?"

"I upset you."

"It's not you, it's me."

"You do know that's a break up line where I come from."

"Sorry," he returned her hug and kissed the top of her head, "I meant that it was the past that was bothering me, it didn't have anything to do with you. Just bad memories coming back to me."

Elle softly nuzzled into his shoulder, grateful that he seemed to be coming back to the Gaara she knew. His hand ran through her hair, she in return reached up and kissed him but this time he returned it warmly. She smiled and traced over Gaara's kanji slowly, "You're my silly little Panda-chan."

* * *

Flocks of shinobi moved in, slow passed and completely at ease. Tay was leaning against a nearby building and talking to Kotetsu, "So that's Kirigakure right?"

"Indeed it is."

"They don't look so happy."

"They were very against moving."

"Oh…well I should be getting home now."

"See you later Tay-chan."

At first she was tempted to go say hi to those she passed but the evil glares they were giving her told her to keep moving and get back to the house as fast as her crippled legs would carry her. The door was opened and she was helped in by her loving, frowning boyfriend.

"You're not supposed to be out by yourself un."

"Yeah well no one was home and I wanted to see what village was moving in."

"What was it?"

"Kirigakure."

Deidara scooped her into his arms and carried her over to the couch; laying her down and rolling her pant leg up so he could unwrap her wound, "This looks a lot better than it was un."

"I'd be worried if it was worse."

"You're an idiot," Deidara grabbed some fresh bandages and lovingly wrapped her back up, "but I love you un."

As Deidara moved off to get her some tea, oblivious to what he just said, Tay sat up with a large blush covering her face. She put a hand to her flushed cheeks, "You said you…"

"Hm, you saying something un?"

"You just said you loved me."

The tea fell to the ground as Deidara's face flushed a similar red. He carefully turned around and nodded at her, "Yes, I love you un."

"You love me?"

"….yes…."

"I love you too stupid."

Deidara moved back to the couch and snuck his way beneath Tay, so she was laying on him instead of the couch, and he ran his hand down her arm, "It's about time you told me that un."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you've been saying it in your sleep for a while un."

"You've been watching me while I sleep?"

"You remember a few nights before the village was attacked, no one was in the house," Deidara began to nibble at the back of her neck and slid one hand under her shirt, "we went up to my room…"

Tay giggled and moaned as he sucked her sweet spot, "How could I forget a night like that? I want to do it again but people keep turning up."

"Well after we had our fun and you feel asleep you sort of mumbled it. So some nights I listened to your door just to see if you'd say it again, which you did un."

"Well guess what," Tay leaned back and kissed his smiling lips, "I love you."

"I love you too un."

* * *

"_So you really can't see anything?_"

May waved her hand in front of the bandaged blonde with a slightly worried expression on her face. Abi simply rolled her covered eyes and pushed the hand away, "_No, I can't see anything_."

"_Then how did you know I was waving my hand?_"

"_I could feel the friction_."

"_LIAR!_"

"_Shut up May_," Abi groaned, knowing May had jumped up and was currently pointing at her, "_I know you so I know what you're doing_."

"_And you're super sure you can't see?_"

"_You're starting to sound like Elle._"

"_Okay you win,_" May sat back down on the chair with her pointing hand back at her side, "_next question. Do you actually know what's wrong with you or is the Hokage just poking around and hoping for the best?_"

"…"

"_Oh dear God._"

"_It's not that bad…_"

"_Not that bad?! She's poking around in your head like it's her little private playground!_"

"_Now you're really over exaggerating,_" Abi rolled her hidden eyes once more, the sound of the door opening made her turn her head expectedly. After all she had been waiting for a verdict on why she couldn't see for a while now.

The Hokage nodded in greeting to May, a rough looking scroll clasped in her hand, before moving to wave her free chakra filled hand over Abi's eyes once more, "Have you had any more headaches, nausea or other symptoms along those lines?"

"Not any."

"Have you tried looking without your bandages yet?"

"Nope."

Tsunade carefully unwrapped the bandages and waited patiently for Abi to open her eyes. The medic watched closely as Abi's eyes remained looking cloudy and unfocused; however her pupils responded and adjusted to the light as they should be. Confirming her suspicions that it wasn't Abi's eyes that were the problem but the chakra link between them and the brain blocking messages. She pulled away and opened the dusty scroll, reading the words carefully, "I think I know how to fix your eye problem, surprisingly enough it is similar to the Sharingan."

This peaked May's interests the most, "What do you mean?"

"When the Sharingan is over used it can destroy eye sight completely, or so it says in this," she indicated to the scroll she had kept in her pocket, "and I'm starting to think it is somewhat like what happened to Abi. Over use of Genjutsu and this ability where she can see chakra must've put such a strain on the chakra lines that they have temporarily cut off circulation so it can repair itself."

"Temporarily?"

"Yes, her eyes should be fine again in the few days," Tsunade ran her hand over the eyes a few more times before wrapping the back up, "Now a word of warning, if you continue to overuse your eyes than you will face the same fate as the Sharingan users. You **will** lose your eye sight for good."


	44. Chapter 43

**A.N. Just wanted to say so happy that my reviews are at 69 right now. I don't care if it's immature or stupid or whatever but hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha**

**69**

* * *

Eyes shifted all around the room, the meeting had been in session for about an hour now but no one had said a single word. No one knew what to say without creating an even more awkward tension. Pein finally cleared his throat and opened a blank scroll, "We really should discuss the attack."

"What's there to know?" Temari snapped, she was tired from looking after some of the younger shinobi that came to her for comfort, she loved her village but she needed Temari time, "Tobi attacked, people got hurt."

"I think we should discuss how he got such a large force of skilled shinobi in such a short period of time."

"Obviously someone is helping him."

May's head perked slightly, she hadn't really been paying attention because of Kakashi's stare and the fact that she was still shaken from her _discussion_ with Tobi during the battle, "Who would want to help him?"

"That's what I want to know."

May shivered and clasped her hands together, flashes of the cold, demented voice echoed in the back of her mind…

"…_I nearly killed her once. I can do it again…_"

Kakashi watched carefully at May's unfocused eyes, "Maybe it's one of our old enemies, he could've reincarnated anyone."

"…_then there are your other two friends, the easily overpowered Abi…_"

"You think Kabuto? Or even Orochimaru?"

"…_and my little Tay_…"

"That would be a pain," Shikamaru groaned at the names of the two men, "They both would have connections all over this place, they could get in and out without us even noticing."

"…_I'll kill them all unless you do what I say…_"

"But it's a possibility."

"…_you know I can…_"

"An annoying possibility."

"…_come with me and I'll keep them safe…_"

"We need some way to draw him out…"

"I'll do it‼"

All eyes turned sharply to May, she nodded to herself, it was the only way she could think of that kept her friends safe, "He's after me, I'll draw him out."

"May, we've been over this, you are not going to risk yourself," Pein stopped writing the conversation down so he could look at the girl he had grown to care for like a daughter, "It's too dangerous. Think of what the others would do…"

"He wants us right? And you know he's interested in me. I can bring him out."

"You will not."

"Why not?"

"I won't allow it; you've been through enough as it is."

"You've been through worse."

"I'm from this world, you aren't," Pein sated simply, ignoring the looks he was receiving from the others present, "In your world violence is completely unacceptable, we kill for a living here. None of you girls are used to being around so much death. No, and that is the end of this conversation."

May slammed her hands of the table and pushed herself out of her seat, "You're right I'm not from this world and whose fault is that? **You** were the one who brought us here so this is technically all your fault. And another thing, you aren't my father; you can't tell me what to do. If I want to go out and give myself to Tobi then I damn well will."

She turned and left before he could say anymore, she said her piece and now she was going to put it into action. She stormed past all the curious looking shinobi without a care, she needed to do this, she **had** to do this.

"May‼"

There wasn't any other choice for her. Tobi didn't give her any other option.

"May‼ Stop," Kakashi's hand grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop, his free hand wrapped around her waist as he led her into an empty room. Once safe in the empty room he grabbed her shoulders and stared desperately into her eyes, "Please tell me you are kidding."

"Do I look like I'm kidding Kakashi?"

"You can't put yourself out there like that, please."

"Look Pein can't stop me."

"Do it for me…"

"For the last time I'm not going to go out with you."

"I'm not asking you to," he pulled her close, he needed reassurance that she was going to stay around so that she could change her mind, he ran his fingers through her hair gently, "You know I want to be with you and I understand that it's too much for you right now. I'm just asking you not to do something stupid and risk your life for no reason."

May pushed him away gently and opened the door, "It's for a good reason Kakashi Sensei, I'm not an idiot."

* * *

"Itachi, wait!"

The older Uchiha subconsciously blushed at the sound of his younger calling; no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get the image out of his mind. And he really wanted it out of his mind.

"Itachi let me explain."

"Why aren't you talking to Sasuke-kun?" Elle perked from his side, she had noticed him acting strangely and suggested a walk around the village, "I thought you loved him?"

"I do, it's just complicated Elle-chan."

"How can it be complicated?"

"It is okay."

"Itachi!" Sasuke finally caught up to his blushing brother, frustrated that he wouldn't listen to reason, "Let me explain it."

"I really don't think now is the right time Sasuke."

"When will be the right time?"

Itachi subtly looked at Elle, "The time when we can speak alone."

"I thought I was family," Elle pouted as she quickly caught on, "so anything Sasuke-kun has to say I can hear too right?"

"Hn."

"Don't 'Hn' me!"

"Let's go Elle-chan," Itachi turned quickly, he wanted to avoid the conversation for as long as he could and any excuse will do, "We've been out too long."

"It's been like ten minutes…"

Sasuke watched his retreating brother, scared about his reaction. He wanted Itachi to accept him being with Naruto but that was never going to happen unless they talk about it. Sasuke raced forwards again and grabbed Elle's hand, pulling her back to his side and out of his brother's reach.

"Sasuke, what are you doing?"

"We're talking about this now! You won't get her back until we've finished."

"Huh?" Elle let Sasuke hold her hands behind her back, knowing he wasn't going to hurt her, "so I'm bait?"

Itachi frowned and reached for Elle, Sasuke simply tugged her just out of reach. He retracted his hand slowly and pointed down the road, "We'll talk at the tea house."

"Fine."

Elle watched the two brothers walk in a calm silence, secretly glad she was caught in the middle as she was keen to hear what they were fighting about. Seeing the two Uchihas so uncomfortable made her giggle beneath her breath. She watched closely as Itachi froze, Sasuke yanking her out of reach again, when he saw the blonde boy waiting by the tea house with an unsure look on his face. Confusion swept through her as she was led into the tea house with the trio of boys, they went to the most corner table and sat in silence. She and Sasuke facing Itachi and Naruto.

Eventually Sasuke sucked up the courage to speak, "Itachi, Naruto and I are together."

Naruto flinched, obviously expecting some sort of reaction from the brother, but Itachi simply nodded politely, "I saw…"

"And we want your blessing."

"My blessing?"

"I want you to be okay with Naruto and I being a couple, accept us and welcome him into the family."

Itachi frowned, partly because Elle was visibly trying to hold her laughter in but mainly because he wasn't sure if Naruto was good enough for his little brother, "You know I would do anything for you Sasuke but I'm…unsure about how to react to his situation."

"_Tell him that you love him even if he is a bum bandit._"

"_Elle!_"

"_He's been anal probed?_"

"_What?!_"

"_Wait you don't know?_"

"_Why would I want to know?!_"

"_So you do know?_"

"_What do I know?_"

"_He's been anal probed!_"

"_I don't want to know if he is or isn't,_" Itachi gawped horrifyingly.

Elle smirked and started to chant, "_Naruto and Sasuke sitting in the shower doing it for one whole hour….don't you think that would hurt Itachi?_"

Itachi choked like a baby on his unformed words.

"So," Elle turned to Sasuke, "Sasuke-kun, do you like it up the ass?"

The other Uchiha began to choke on his words like a baby. Naruto merely smiled happily, "Yes he does."

"Don't say that so proudly‼" Sasuke hissed coming out of his mild coma.

"Does it hurt to sit Sasuke-kun? Or even stand?"

"WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"

"You brought me here."

Itachi's head fell to the table. He remained motionless upon the calls of the others around him.

Elle stopped smiling, "I think I killed Itachi…"

"No you didn't," Sasuke sighed and began to poke at his brother, "I was at fault."

"True, if you weren't taking it up the ass then Itachi would still be alive," Elle chirped like a bubbly child who just received a lollipop for blaming the dog for the mess, "It's all your fault Sasuke-uke."

"Leave."

"I can't."

"Why are you here?"

"I'm the bait."

"For a dead man?"

"Yes," she beamed, "look whose learning like a big boy."

Naruto nodded seriously, "He really is a big boy."

Elle tilted her head quizzically, "So you're the uke?"

"We take turns."

"DON'T JUST TELL HER EVERYTHING DOBE‼‼‼"

"Ha-ha Teme, this is just like the time where you had the whip an-"

"SHUT UP NARUTO‼"

The restaurant fell deadly quiet, no one wanting to admit they had heard parts of the conversation. Except Elle. She beamed brighter than ever and started kicking Itachi underneath the table, "You okay Ita-chan?"

"No," he groaned lowly.

"Want me to make you a cake?"

"I'm okay."

"Or would you rather we continue this delightful conversation."

"Cake it is!" Itachi pulled Elle across the table and quickly ran out the door. Elle giggled as she flew down the road, she was going to have a lot of fun with this new information she had stumbled upon.

* * *

Kakashi.

Hatake Kakashi.

The man always got in Tobi's way no matter what he did. First he took Rin and now he was taking May, it wasn't fair, that man was always in the way. Tobi growled through his teeth as he threw a scroll against the wall, "Not this time. I won't let him win this time."

May belonged to him. All of her belonged to him. As did the rest of the girls, they were his pets and he would do as he pleased with them. Whatever pleased him. He crossed the room to retrieve the scroll now that he began to calm down, Hatake always got to him ever since they were teammates so many years ago. But that was history, he needed to focus on here and now if he wanted his pets back.

"Tobi-sama, I have reports from the scouts," Kabuto slunk his way into the dark room , cautious not anger the obviously pissed off man, "Apparently your May-chan is determined to join you."

"Is that so?"

Noticing the uplift in Tobi's voice, Kabuto took the chance to glance around the room, "Yes, it's reported that she stormed out of the meeting swearing that she was going to give herself to you. She even brushed off Hatake Kakashi's advances."

A dark smile grew wider, "What of the others?"

"Abi is going to be released from hospital extremely soon according to the reports. Elle and Tay have down nothing special in particular, like any teenage girl they have been seeing their boyfriends a lot instead of training."

"I see..."

"What are your orders?"

"Leave May alone, she'll come to me," just saying it out loud made Tobi hold his head a fraction higher, "Abi will follow her, she is nothing more than a sheep. Then there are Tay and Elle, who are they with again?"

"Ah…Tay is with Deidara and Elle with the Kazekage."

"The Kage and the man who killed him, this could work to our advantage. We'll drive them so far apart they will have nowhere to turn but to me and then all my pets will be back. The Akatsuki will fall to its knees and the villages not far behind it."

"Should we continue to scout sir?"

"Yes, when May-san chooses to leave than they can kindly help her _find_ the way back to me. And any of her friends that choose to go with her."

"As you wish…" Kabuto paused at the doorway then turned back despite all of his natural instincts, "I'm sorry Tobi-sama but I have to ask, why May-san?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why May-san out of all the girls? Why her at all?"

Tobi looked at the ceiling and sighed, "She is what Rin would be, if Hatake had allowed her to live then that's what she'd be like. So strong willed, protective, and her body…"

A creepy little smile crept onto Kabuto's face, "But she doesn't have Rin's face."

"Yes, she is still imperfect in that sense but there is nothing I can do about it."

"Orochimaru-sama and I can."


	45. Chapter 44

"So you'll be out tomorrow?"

"That's what Tsunade-sama said. Apparently my eyes are all fixed now; the bandages are just for show."

"Aren't they annoying?"

"Yeah a little."

"Here," the young chunin teacher carefully unwrapped the bandages of the blonde girl before him; he dropped the material onto the side table and smiled, "is that better?"

Abi smiled gently as her eyes focused for the first time in over a week, "Thank you Iruka Sensei."

"It's my pleasure."

The two sat in a comfortable silence, it wasn't often that they spent time together but they enjoyed it. Even if neither spoke a word. Eventually Iruka swallowed the nervous lump in his throat, "Can I ask…what's it like living with the Akatsuki?"

"Noisy for one thing, someone is bound to be fighting with someone else. They get violent a lot too. Very violent. Why are you asking?"

"I was wondering if it was safe for you girls there. It's not that I don't have faith in your abilities it's just that you're not as experienced."

Abi grabbed his hand and gave it a light squeeze, "I understand, they may be violent and deadly but trust me when I say that we are completely safe, Itachi-san told me so. Apparently the others have become very attached to us, so attached that if there was a slight chance that we could find our way back to our world that they would follow and drag us back. I guess we're precious to them now."

"You're precious to a lot of people."

"It's funny how life works out isn't it?" Abi smiled and gazed out the window, "Back in our world we were preparing to go off to University, you know, starting our lives as independent young adults. Making our mistakes and life lessons and now, now we're living with a group that were once hardened criminals in a world that we never thought possible. It's so…"

"I get it," he smiled understandingly, "you lived what you thought was impossible."

"Exactly!"

A knock on the door and an embarrassingly large bushel of ruby roses shifted into the room, followed by some curious eyes and head of hair that were nearly the same colour as the roses. Iruka just smiled to himself and got to his feet, "I'll see you around Abi-san, I've got some reports to mark."

"Okay, I'll see you around Iruka Sensei," Abi waved him off then smiled at the puppet master, "What brings you here Sasori-san?"

He looked at the ground and held out the roses to her, "I'm sorry I haven't come in to see you, I just…I…" he fumbled around a bit more, trying and failing to hide the pink tint that came to his cheeks, "just take the damned flowers."

"I didn't know they had flowers this colour in the village," Abi gratefully accepted them and ran her fingers over the petals, "wait…did you paint these?"

"White is just so plain."

"So you painted the roses red? How very 'Alice in Wonderland' of you."

"What?"

"Nothing, you know you don't have to apologize for not coming to see me, I'm sure you've been very busy."

"Yeah…busy…" Sasori avoided her eyes again, there only reason he could see her was because she wasn't wearing those damned bandages anymore, "So when are you allowed to leave this place?"

"Tomorrow I'm being released, I'll be home then."

"Good. It'll be good to have someone I can actually speak to in that house who isn't a complete artistical moron."

"Still fighting with Deidara-san?"

"He's a brat, a stubborn brat."

"He just sees art differently than you, that doesn't mean he's wrong."

"Prove it."

Abi glanced out the window then back at the flowers in her hand, "These roses are beautiful, a painted piece of artwork, but they won't last forever. They're art that you made."

"So I'm wrong?"

"No one is wrong; while the roses won't last forever I'll remember them forever so it works out for both of you. Does this make sense?"

"I missed this," Sasori sat in Iruka's abandoned chair and smiled at the blonde in the bed, "You're not allowed to get hurt ever again, and if you do I'm going to be the one who saves you. Not some school teacher."

Confused as hell but strangely happier than ever before, "Whatever you say Sasori-san."

* * *

Elle checked herself in the bathroom mirror again, tucking a loose strand of hair back into place behind her ear. There was nothing that could spoil tonight; she had even gone as far to ask Kankuro to let her spend the night with Gaara. Alone. Alone in their little two person world, which took a lot of convincing and pleading and downright begging before the puppeteer finally caved and gave into her demands.

A heavy knock fell on the door making her jump in surprise, "_Are you done yet?_"

"_Yeah, it's all yours Tay._"

Tay jumped slightly in surprise as the door opened. She had never seen Elle look like that before.

"_What's with the get up?_"

"_I'm staying at Gaara's tonight, it's the first time that we're going to be alone together,_" Elle giggled happily and fiddled with her dress a little, "_he's making dinner and then we're going to watch a movie and it's going to be awesome._"

"_You're really excited aren't you?_"

"_Yeah, I can't wait._"

Tay stopped in the doorway to stare at her bouncing friend, "_I don't get why you're so into him. He doesn't really show that he likes you._"

Elle sighed, she knew she was going to get into this conversation with someone sooner or later, "_You don't know him like I do, and it doesn't help that your boyfriend is so obvious with you._"

"_What's that supposed to mean?_"

"_I know Gaara, you just read Deidara._"

"_Don't start something you can't finish_."

"_What are you going to do? Blow me up?_"

"_You asked for it Elle_," Tay smirked as she pulled out her big guns, "_Hey, remember the arc where Gaara dies?_"

* * *

There was a soft knock on the front door. May moved reluctantly from her comfortable place on the couch. She already knew who it was after all her idiotic friend had been squeaking about it all day. She opened the door and nodded politely to the Kage, "She'll be down soon."

"Thank you," he was about to step inside but a head of golden hair made him stop. He stepped backwards before nodding back to May, "and how are you?"

"Ah…you not coming inside?"

"I can wait out here. You said she'd be right down."

"_LEAVE ME ALONE TAY, YOU'RE SUCH A BITCH._"

May sighed and facepalmed as she heard her, "There she is."

"Gaara let's go," Elle latched onto Gaara's hand the moment she stepped outside the door, "the people here suck."

Deidara laughed lightly, "What did Tay do now un?"

Elle glared heavily at the bomber, "I'm not talking to you."

"What did I do?"

"Kicked her boyfriend's ass," Tay smirked and walked over to plant a satisfied kiss on her man, "she's cut that I reminded her about it."

Elle snapped her head around, protectively standing in front of the frowning Kage, "He cheated! He used the entire village, which Gaara protected, as bait to get him. That was dirty and low, he cheated and it was so wrong."

"Admit it, Gaara's weak."

"Deidara's a cheating scum bag."

Deidara began to chuckle, pulling Tay onto his lap so she could continue to kiss him without getting in the way, "Is that why you won't come in Kazekage-sama? Because I killed you before? That's awfully petty don't you think un?"

"You think dying to save my village is petty?" Gaara's voice had an edge of warning, not moving for his spot, with his eyes so cold they could freeze fire, "You think that I was going to lightly brush aside the fact that you tried to destroy my village? I believe they are very good reasons not to trust you."

"You're over reacting un."

Gaara gave him one final glare before pulling Elle closer, "Let's go."

"Hold on, I'm not done with this," Deidara growled and got out of his chair, Tay smirking behind him, "There is no need to be a sore loser un."

"Sore loser?" the warning tone returned to the Kage.

May stood in between the two couples, knowing that something bad was about to happen, so she attempted to stop it by holding up her hands, "Elle, go have fun with Gaara before Pein-sama sees you in that dress and changes his mind about letting you go. Deidara, sit the fuck down and make out with Tay or something."

"No way, we're in the middle of something May-chan un."

She looked carefully at her best friend, Elle nodding and pulling Gaara down the road before a fight could actually take place. Deidara attempted to go after them but was stopped by Tay whispering something in his ear, his frown changed to a smirk and he quickly carried her up the stairs. May just smiled successfully and clapped her hands, "My work here is done."

* * *

Giggling nurses caught Sakura's attention as she moved into the break room after her shift, "What's the gossip guys?"

One of the medics giggled from her chair, "I just came back from checking up on the Akatsuki girl and couldn't help but notice the large bouquet of roses that she had been given. She didn't even notice me there, she was too busy caught up with the conversation she was having with Sasori-san."

"Abi-chan and Sasori-san, that's gonna break a few hearts."

"I thought she was going out with Iruka Sensei," another commented, "What with all the visits he's given her."

"Iruka Sensei? I think they're just friends."

"Naw I think they'd make a cute couple, cuter than her being with Sasori-san."

"What do you have against him?

"I don't have anything against him," the medic blushed and gave a wink, "but I wouldn't mind him against me."

"Got a thing for red heads?"

"I hear he's good with his hands…"

Girly giggling filled the room once more as the conversation drifted over to the more attractive bachelors living in the village, as it tended to when the females were on break at the same time. Sakura faded in and out of the conversation with the new gossip stuck in her mind, Abi and Sasori, she had to know, she had to know if it was true or not. If so she was going to make fun of Kiba's crush on the blonde girl for as long as she could.

* * *

He loved that view, a naked Tay shuffling around his room in search for her clothing. Deidara groaned happily as she bent over to pick up her shirt, "Tay-chan, I'd put that back down un."

"Man, you're such a horn dog."

"But you love me."

"Yeah I love you."

"Then come back to bed un."

"As you wish Deidara-sama."

He chuckled lightly and yanked her back, getting tangled up in the sheets as he lay on top of her, "Mmmm, so can I ask as to what brought his on? You're normally shyer un."

"It's okay for Elle-chan and I to fight because we won't kill each other," Tay brushed his hair back and stared seriously at him, "you and Gaara-san are a different story."

"I'm not to blame un! He's the one being a little bitch."

"I know this, you know this, but if you guys get in a fight you are either going to destroy part of the village or kill him."

"And that would upset Elle-chan un?"

"And then May would attack me for making her cry. Not a lot of fun. So if you want to keep tapping all of this," she pulled the sheet away so he could see all of her, "then you'll be the bigger man when the 'Kazekage' comes around. Please?"

"Only because I love you un."

Before Tay could say it back Deidara had shoved his tongue in her mouth, wanting to have as much fun as possible before the others came back and interrupted them. Again. For the third time since Tay's knee had healed. Oh how it pissed him off. But now was not the time be thinking about that, now was the time to be focused on the squirming girl beneath him. How he enjoyed their alone time together, in more ways than one.

"Mm Tay-chan."

"Yes?"

"FUCKING DEIDARA GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE‼"

Tay sighed in disappointment at Pein's voice, "I think May told him what's going on."

"I will destroy her," he replied as he put his pants on, "just when things were getting interesting again too un."

"Well we can always pick it up again later."

Thoughts of Pein disembowelling him in front of the village immediately crossed his mind, "Much later, much, much later…"

* * *

Halfway through the movie and Elle was still as tense as ever, laying on the couch together was supposed to be comfortable but Gaara had had enough of trying to hold a board, "Elle-chan, what's on your mind?"

"Hm? Nothing."

"Okay…what are we watching again?"

"Some romantic comedy."

"It's a horror."

"Oh, that would explain all the blood on the screen."

"Alright out with it," he pulled her up into a sitting position, her tired head flopping onto his shoulder, and paused the movie, "What are you thinking about?"

"Deidara is such a fucking prick."

"I should've known."

"Well who does he think he is talking to you like that?" Elle yawned and cuddled closer to him, "I bet he hasn't even apologized to you yet has he? Gah I hate him so much right now‼"

"It's all in the past now…"

"He should still apologize."

"I know, I think so too, but I don't see it happening anytime soon."

"I'll make him, you'll see."

"You really are something," Gaara kissed her forehead as it lulled forwards again. He slid them back down on the couch but didn't bother starting the movie again; he just closed his eyes, shut it off, and settled in for the night. If Kankuro tried to wake them, he'd regret it.


	46. Chapter 45

A small smile crept onto Sasori's face as the door opened and Pein brought in the freshly released Abi, he fiddled with the tea cup but didn't leave his chair, "Welcome home Abi-chan."

"Ah, thank you Sasori-san," she immediately poured herself a cup of tea just for an excuse to sit close to him, "Have I missed anything?"

"Nothing major; May's gone out with Konan-sama to do some shopping, Elle's still at the Kazekage's and Tay's been grounded to Kakuzu's room."

"Kakuzu's?"

"Mhm turns out she and Deidara have been…how do I put this…" he raised his fingers and quoted, "'doing it like a couple of rabbits'."

"Really? So I've missed nothing."

"Nothing at all."

"Sweet."

The door opened once more as Konan and May returned from their shopping, just seeing the blonde made May smile with relief, "Hey, you're home."

"I am indeed, what'd you get?"

"Not much, just a few essentials that we ran out of. Bet you're glad to be out of that damned hospital."

"I am going back tomorrow you know," Abi smiled and sipped at her tea, "Tsunade-sama is allowing me to observe most of the procedures and things and then she's got Sakura-chan teaching me in the afternoon."

"Yeah Abi that's…great. You had lunch yet?"

"I'm not eating anything you cook. It's dangerous."

"Shut up."

For a third time the door opened, Elle calmly walked in with a huge smile on her face. Pein was first over with a frown, "Why are you so late? You were supposed to be home last night."

"We fell asleep watching the movie, what do you want?"

"So nothing…happened?"

"Happened?" Elle looked to her friends for help.

May tried to hide her laughter but it wasn't working, "_He wants to know if you two had sex._"

"_Oh!_ Pein-sama, I'm not Tay."

"_WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN YOU STUPID BITCH?!_" Tay yelled over the banister once she heard Elle speaking, intending to apologize but swiftly changed her mind.

"_It means you a slut._"

"_Come up here and say it to my face._"

"_I'm saying it to your face dumb shit_."

"_I'LL DESTROY YOU‼_"

"_NOT IF I DESTROY YOU FIRST‼_"

Abi sighed nostalgically and sipped her tea again, "It's so good to be home."

* * *

Impatient. He was becoming far too impatient. Why hadn't May come yet? She had turned down Hatake but since then, from the reports he had seen, she was falling back into her normal routine. This isn't what should be happening.

"Orochimaru‼"

"Yes, Tobi-sama?" immediately the snake came to the call, it was not like he had a choice in the matter, "How may I be of assistance?"

"This is taking too long, fix it."

"Matters like this take a fair amount of ti-"

"Fix it!"

"Yes, Tobi-sama…"

The hiss in his voice was very well hidden, Orochimaru slinking his way out of the Uchiha's bedroom  
before he could be ordered around anymore. To put it simply, Orochimaru hated every single one of the Uchihas after all they had done to him. He was going to humiliate them, he was going to destroy them, but he just had to figure out how.

Kabuto couldn't help but chuckle as Orochimaru scowled his way into their lab, "You look like you've seen better days."

"I grow tired of him, but his version of Edo Tensei is more difficult to break out of."

"What does it matter? We'll earn our freedom once that May shows up."

"He's too impatient," Orochimaru sifted through some scrolls as a mere distraction, "We need to hurry her up before he changes his mind on us."

"And how do you suggest we do that Orochimaru-sama?"

"It'll be difficult with the damned Akatsuki following her about like a bad smell. You wouldn't happen to have any ideas?"

"What are her weak points?" Kabuto queried as he tidied his notes.

"Simply, her friends."

Kabuto pushed his glasses back up in thought, "That is an obvious target to take, she would see it coming. Anything else?"

"None that have been reported...although," Orochimaru perked as he scanned through one of the latest reports, "it seems she's been having trouble with one Hatake Kakashi."

"What sort of trouble?"

"It says he wants her but she doesn't feel the same…I believe otherwise."

Kabuto raised an eyebrow, interested in the new development, "Then I think we have found what will bring her to us."

"Hatake? Care to elaborate."

"She will be too busy protecting her friends and making sure they are safe to be completely focused on our true intensions," Kabuto raised a finger, "One little oversight, one tiny slip up and she will come running to us faster than Kakashi can heal."

A grin wickedly gleamed across the snake master's face towards his right hand man.

* * *

"Okay guys, that's it for today," Kakashi called in his students, eyes never leaving his precious book, "pack up and go home."

"Yes Sensei."

Sakura couldn't help but smirk as she walked away with her teammates, "Have you guys noticed that Sensei has been on time for everything lately?"

"Yeah I noticed it too," Sasuke replied while he tried to sneak his hand into Naruto's, "ever since the attack. I don't think he's even reading the book anymore."

"I wonder what's gotten under his skin…"

"Do you think it's got something to do with…" Naruto leaned in closer and lower his voice to a whisper, "Tobi?"

"Why'd you whisper?"

"Just to be safe."

After punching him into the ground, Sakura continued to voice her opinions, "Well I think it's someone distracting him, someone inside the village."

Sasuke scoffed in disbelief, "What makes you think that?"

"Woman's intuition. Haven't you noticed him sighing a lot, looking distractedly into the distance, how he watches the Akatsuki members…"

"You think it's one of the girls?"

"Yup and I think I know which one too."

"Abi right?"

"Nope, May-san."

"Why her?"

"Figure it out lover boy," she shook her head with laughter, "Really Sasuke-kun, you can be so oblivious at times. He likes her but she doesn't like him. I think we can change that."

"I'm not getting involved."

"You don't have to, I can just talk to Abi-san, or Elle-chan…"

Sakura still didn't know Sasuke and Naruto were together, the only other people who did know was Itachi and Elle, and they weren't ready for the village to know either. So to avoid word getting out he couldn't allow Sakura to have any contact with either of them, "If you go alone you'll do something stupid."

"Hey‼"

"I'll talk to Elle and you talk to Abi, we'll figure this damned thing out."

In Sakura's mind, 'Does this mean Sasuke wants to do this together? As in together, together? He wants to be more than friends?'

In Sasuke's mind, 'Can't let her know! Can't let her know! Can't let her know, stupid pink haired gossip!'

Meanwhile in Naruto's mind, 'I completely forgot what we are talking about…'

* * *

"_FLAT CHESTED BITCH‼_"

"_DESPERATE FAN GIRL‼_"

"_STUPID VIRGIN‼_"

"_THAT'S IT I'M MOVING TO SPARTA‼_"

"_What?_"

With the small distraction, a chair narrowly missed Tay's head. Before Elle could continue you assault, May had tripped her to the floor and sat on her back, "_Enough of that, hurry and get changed._"

"_I'll have my revenge on you, say four o'clock tomorrow?_"

"_Whatever._"

"_Hey guys,_" Abi jerked her head to the stairs, "_private talk?_"

Suspicious glances from the Akatsuki in the room was enough for all four to file up stairs, Tay and Elle trying to push each other down as they went. In the safety of May's room, seals placed on all exits, Abi voiced her worries, "_So, what happened to everyone during the fight? You all know that when I was attacked I overused the ability to see chakra and boom I was in hospital._"

"_I was just fighting with some random guy who wanted to take me to Tobi_," Tay sat on the bed and played with some loose papers, "_after my sword got stuck in a tree I kept rolling out of his way until I could grab it again, he fractured my knee but I got free and smacked him over with my sword until he stopped moving._"

Elle flopped on May's back and started playing with her hair, "_I just ran from my guy and hid in a garbage can, Pein saved me and here we are._"

"_So you got lucky._"

"_So did you!_"

"_All three of us got lucky, now May?_"

"_I fought some guys and wound up in hospital._"

They all knew May was lying, or at least avoiding telling the truth, they weren't her friends for nothing. Eventually their heavy glares were enough to piss her off, "_What more do you want from me?_"

"_The truth._"

"_The whole truth_."

"_And nothing but the damned truth._"

"_I did say the truth._"

"_And nothing else happened? Doubt that._"

She had one of two choices, tell them the whole truth or the truth that would distract them enough to leave her alone, "_Well…_"

Three girls shifted forwards, "_Yes…?_"

"_While I was fighting…_"

"_Yes…?_

"…_Kakashi asked me out…_"

"_AE?!_"

"_ARE YOU SERIOUS?!_"

"_EW HE'S SO OLD‼_"

"_But I turned him down! See why I didn't want to talk about it, nothing is happening._"

"_Stupid‼_"

"_Tay?_"

"_You so like him, that's why you've been avoiding him,_" she smirked slightly but knew she had a point, "_I've noticed. Ah you like old men._"

"_Do not!_"

Abi giggled and transformed into the man, holding her hand out to May with the sweetest smile she could manage, "_My dearest May, come, come with me and I will love you for the rest of eternity._"

"_Abi stop it!_"

"_May and Kakashi sitting in a tree_," Elle sung over the laughter of the other two, "_K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in a baby carriage._"

The blush on May's face continued to grow uncontrollably, "_Shut up! Nothing is going to happen so just stop it already. Really, how immature can you three get?_"

"_So much more._"

"_You have no idea._"

"_My response to that is, when's the baby due?_"

* * *

The normally dark halls of the hideout were now filled with bustles and scrapes, the subordinates were preparing to leave. But for what? It made Tobi curious enough to leave his room and find Orochimaru himself. He wasn't even the least bit surprised to see the snake man grinning like a Cheshire cat, "What's going on?"

"Merely following orders, you wanted me to quicken May's arrival and that is what I am doing."

"Hn. How so?"

"Let's just say it's…persuasion."

"She must come on her own accord, otherwise everything will be useless."

"Yes, yes, I understand that Tobi-sama," Orochimaru chuckled lightly and waved his hand around in a reassuring manner, "and rest assured that I am doing all in my power to have everything work out in your favour."

"They had better Orochimaru."

"They will."


	47. Chapter 46

Strange, no matter how hard she tried Akari couldn't shake the feeling that she had seen that ninja watching the Akatsuki the last time she visited. Yeah…it was the same ninja. What was he doing? Scoping out the place?

"Oh, it's you Akari."

"Huh?" she spun to face Tay; she hadn't even notice the door open or the girl step out.

"What are you doing Akari-san?"

"Nothing…"

"Then are you coming in or not? Kisame-san can barely contain himself."

"TAY‼"

"Well you can't‼"

"Alright, I'm coming."

She'd address the shinobi later, there was a reason Kisame had asked her to come over and she was determined to find out what it was. It was just he and Tay in the room, so Akari couldn't understand what he could want from her, "What's up Kisame?"

"Maybe I just wanted to see you."

"Yeah…what do you want?"

"Tay-chan," Kisame jerked his head at the stairs and she ran up immediately, he turned back to Akari and nervously scratched the back of his neck, "There was something I actually wanted to talk to you about…"

"Like…what?"

"Like I kinda want to maybe move in together."

Akari froze, this was the last thing she was expecting, "You want me to move in here?"

"Yeah, or we could find our own place if you want," Kisame looked out the window, searching for a distraction, "That's if…if you want to."

"Stupid fish, of course I want to," she jumped tackled him into the ground and giggled despite herself, "but I've already got a place so you can just move in with me."

"Really?"

"Why else would I tell you?"

"So…we're going to move in together."

"Isn't that what we just decided?"

"That's the best news I have ever received," Kisame swung her around and planted several kisses on different parts of her face. It seemed like an age ago that they had been reunited and now things were back on track, it was like nothing could ruin their perfect moment.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY I NEED A SHOWER‼"

Mere moments after May, completely covered in mud for some reason, came streaming through the house, Elle was running down the stairs pushing Tay in front of her, "Okay, all of you out!"

Before they could ask why, Elle had pushed them outside and locked the door. Confused but content the couple walked away hand in hand with Tay awkwardly trailing behind them.

* * *

Hot steam wafted around the one dubbed as the 'girls' bathroom as May finished her long shower. She was so relieved to be back in the house, relaxed, safe and finally clean after the tiring training she just had. And the mud that was dumped on her after she got smart to Hidan. She stepped from the warm shower onto the cold tiled floor and began to search rapidly for her towel. The cool air already hugging her damp skin.

"_Where the hell did I put that thing?_"

She remembered someone coming in to collect her dirty clothing and noticed that her clean clothes had also vanished; they must've accidentally taken the lot. The closet holding all the towels was exactly opposite the bathroom door, two steps there and two steps back, four steps in total, and then she'd be set to cover herself enough to get back to her bed room. May calmly pressed her hand to the door, sensing someone standing just outside the door.

"Elle, is that you?"

"Yeah," her friend's voice called happily, "what do you want? You didn't drown did you?"

"Shut up, I need a towel."

"Okay."

May waited patiently but sensed the chakra remaining stationary. She tapped the door and shivered at the cold feel of the wood, "Elle, did you grab one?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Get it yourself."

"You're right there, I can sense you."

"Get it yourself."

"Fine!"

May took a deep breath and opened the door, cold air rushing to meet her. She was about to take a step out from behind the door when a flash of silver and an unexpected face caught her eye. She slammed the door shut and pressed her back up against it, "PERVERT!"

"It seems you can't sense who it is but you can sense the chakra," the cheeky baritone laughed.

"WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING IN THIS HOUSE?"

"Elle-chan let me in to see you since no one was in the house."

"WHY DID SHE DO THAT?"

"I gave her twenty Ryo."

"I'm going to kill her," May shivered and growled beneath her chattering teeth. She was going to catch a cold if she continued to stand around like this but she couldn't exactly go out while **he** was standing out there, "Look Kakashi Sensei, I need a towel or I'm going to get sick so would you please just leave."

"Why don't I just grab one for you?"

"Because you'll peek, I know you will."

"Ah, you know me so well…May-san."

May shivered again, not from the cold, something about the way he had said her name made her shiver from head to toe, it made her toes curl, she closed her eyes as his voice echoed in the back of her mind…NO she did not do that, she did not like him AT ALL‼

"GO AWAY‼"

"But I liked what I saw."

"_ELLE GET YOUR SCRAWNY ASS OVER HERE RIGHT NOW‼_"

May waited until she could sense two chakras outside the door before turning around and banging on it, "_Listen here you little shit, get me a towel right now or I swear to God I will __**murder you in your sleep**__._"

"_Ah_…" Elle squeaked; her footsteps pattered from the bathroom door to the towels and back, "_Okay, open up May…_"

The door opened slowly, the only part of May being revealed was her bare arm waiting for the towel. She clasped the fluffy material and sighed happily, she was home free now. Or at least that's what she thought. Once she had a firm grip on the towel Elle gave a sharp pull and yanked her out of the bathroom. Kakashi stared wide eyed at the perfectly naked women before him, not noticing the blood dampening his mask, and just gaped. He and May chose to stare at each other purely out of shock and no idea what to do next.

"Um…"

Elle's voice broke their staring contest as she looked away from the naked form with her hand held flat out to the clothed one, "You owe me fifty."

"WHAT!?" May finally wrapped the towel around herself so she was free to grab a handful of Elle's hair, "What do you mean he owes you fifty?"

"Fifty for me letting him see you naked…"

"I am going to kill you…"

"Hey May!"

"What?"

"Revenge!" Elle pulled the towel away, making May scream loudly and tried to cover up her most private parts with her hands.

Kakashi calmly walked past the retreating Elle, paying her fifty and a bit for the show, before hugging May tightly. She could feel him blushing as he blew gently on her ear, "I need to go now May-san, I need to change my mask, but I'll be back later to pick you up."

POOF!

He was gone and May was left alone. She ran to her bedroom, screaming at the top of her lungs, "_FUCK YOU BOTH. GO BLOW HIDAN AND SCREW HIM LIKE THE SLUTTY HOOKER YOU ARE‼_"

* * *

Calming breeze, warm sun, supplies ready and waiting. There was nothing on this fine day that could stop Sasori from finally sculpting, something he'd been dying to do ever since they came back to this world. He stripped the bark off the branch he'd lopped off a tree this morning while out for a walk. The only thing he could hear was the scraping of the blade against the fresh wood as he peeled away the skin. It was soothing. A form began to conjure itself up in his mind as to what the wood should become. Something decorative rather than functional. Patterned. He left a twisting band of bark around the uneven wood.

Sasori paused to see the designs forming on the wood in his mind. It called for something elegant yet slick. He picked up a small carving tool and lightly started to etch in curvy patterns that flowed onto and around the bark.

"Watcha making Sasori-san?"

"Hm?"

The happy blonde head bobbed closer to his work, a sweet smile facing him, "It looks interesting."

"Ever sculpted Abi-chan?"

"No. But I want to."

"Do you know how to use any of the tools?" Sasori asked gesturing to his collection on the table.

"Kinda," Abi peered over at the table, "I've seen them being used but haven't had much experience with them myself."

"Take one of the pieces of wood and I'll guide you through some of the basics."

Abi smiled and did as she was told. Wood shavings and flakes swum around in the whispering breeze as Abi carefully mimicked the basic techniques and tips that Sasori demonstrated with honed skill. Soon Abi was well into her own little project and Sasori couldn't help but admire the vision that came to life in her hands.

Her sculpture, even at this stage, he could tell hers was going to be a petite structure, straight forward but beautiful just like she was. Her nimble hands whittled in even strokes, her eyes slightly narrowed in concentration, but a small smile lingered on her face. He could see that she was completely at peace, this Abi was one he only saw when she was painting or staring at art. This was the artistic Abi.

Sasori went back to his sculpture but every so often he would sneak a glance at Abi to see her progress. Mainly to just watch her being creative. To watch that spark flash in her glistening eyes. To just watch her work. To just watch her.

He smiled to himself.

It was nice to share a creative moment with another artist with true vision.

* * *

Akari giggled like a school girl as Kisame continued to cuddle her on the couch, not even the slightest bit interested about the movie that was playing, "I'm so glad you're moving in."

"Me too. This is just so nice."

"You guys are making me feel sick," Tay sat huddled in her own ball on the floor, trying and failing to ignore the couple of the couch, and trying to watch the movie that was playing, "seriously, why can't she move into our place?"

"Tay-chan, leave Akari alone."

"Well why can't she?"

"Because I don't want to be stalked," Akari rolled her eyes and tried to get comfortable again, she did not like the whole 'little sister, big sister' thing.

Kisame, however, did not like what Akari had said, "What do you mean?"

"You haven't noticed? There's been some random guy watching your house for…a while now. It's really creepy. I'm actually really surprised you haven't noticed him yet."

"Are you sure you haven't been mistaken?"

"Nope, it's the same guy," Kisame tensed around her, Akari sighed and removed herself from the so called embrace.

"Tay-chan, give us some space okay?"

"Whatever, Akari-san where's your food?"

"Kitchen."

They waited patiently for Tay to be well out of the room before continuing to speak about the topic at hand. Kisame straightened up and held onto her hands softly, "Listen, Tobi is trying to take them back and we can't let that happen, he'll torture them. I really need you to help me with this."

"I don't understand how you, hell the Akatsuki of all people, got so attached to a group of squawking teenage girls. How do you not find them annoying?"

"The same way I fell for you."

Akari was about to snap back but bit her tongue instead, swallowing her pride and sighing in defeat, "I'm not joking Kisame, there has really been someone watching the house for a while now. I thought it was strange but I assumed you lot knew about it already."

"Well we didn't. You have to take me to find this guy as soon as possible."

"I'll give you a description, the Mizukage has got me helping move in her village so I'm a bit caught up."

"Whatever you can do to help."

"You owe me big time."

"I know," he kissed her cheek gratefully and wrapped his long arms around her once more, "I know."


	48. Chapter 47

"So let me get this straight," Pein rubbed his temples as he paced around the dining room table, "you're moving out and you think there is a stalker outside our house."

Kisame growled and looked out the window, "Akari said that she has seen the same guy watching this house for the last few days."

"If that is the case then I want you here until we find out what is going on. If Tobi is after the girls then I want all the help we can get."

"Then we should inform the Kages."

"Inform them about what?" Sasori questioned as he entered the room, a semi-finished wooden statue placed on the table and now the last thing on his mind.

Pein was busy writing down an explanation to the Kages, requesting their assistance, "Someone's been watching the house…or so I've been told."

"That doesn't sound good. Do you know if it's Tobi?"

"No clue," he finished his notes and passed them to Kisame, "go give these to the Kages, explain the situation and if they can we would like the assistance, and then go round up the girls, I want them back in this house and under supervision until this mess is sorted out. Sasori, go find the others and tell them what's going on, I want everyone out searching for this guy the moment I know the girls are safe."

"Yes Pein-sama."

"On it."

The two vanished without hesitation, having learnt that taking their time always seemed to lead to the girls getting hurt…badly. It was in these quiet moments, just before something was going to happen, that Pein reflected on all the decisions that he had made up to this point, what he could've done and what he can do to help prevent it from ever happening again. He needed to plan out his course of action; he needed to keep the girls under a closer eye than ever before if Tobi was coming after them again. At least he could be certain of one girl hanging around the house all day, especially if Deidara was there…

"Eek!"

"Come back un‼"

"Good, I need a distraction," Pein sighed to himself and started up the stairs, "DEIDARA‼"

* * *

One young Elle squirmed uncomfortably on Sasori's shoulder while May screamed abuse as he dragged her along behind him. Together they could be heard from all the way down the road, where Abi stood with the latest groceries in her hand a confused smile on her face.

"Hey there Sasori-san…"

"You. Come with me now."

"Fucking Sasori let me go‼"

"Put me down jerk-off‼"

"What's going on Sasori?"

Abi followed along willingly, Sasori didn't bother looking back as he marched through the village, "If I tell you three you're going to have to promise to keep your mouths shut because I'm not sure if you're meant to know or not."

"We promise."

"Fine."

"This is hurting my stomach‼"

"Kisame was meant to come get you guys but I did it so I could tell you. There is possibly a spy from Tobi in the village, he's coming after you guys again but we won't let him get you. You can be certain of that."

"Again‼ This prick doesn't give up," Elle tried to move into a more comfortable position but failed, "and don't think this means I'm going to happily get put under house arrest. I'm going to visit Gaara whenever I damned well feel like it."

"You shut up."

May stiffened slightly but hid it well from him, "Don't worry Sasori-san, I'll make sure everyone behaves."

"Thank you May-san."

"So why do you think that there's a spy?" Abi questioned, breathing slightly heavy from having to keep up with Sasori's long, quick pace, "Have you seen them? Or was there a note? What's going on?"

"Akari-san spotted someone watching the house for a while now; we're taking all precautions until this mess is sorted out once and for all," Sasori kicked the door down of their home, getting all of them inside and next to the bored looking Tay, "Pein-sama, I've brought them back."

"I thought I told Kisame to do that."

"Does it matter?"

"I like it when you _follow_ orders;" Pein growled and pushed Tay back into her seat as she tried to leave, "Moving on, I've told Tay what's going on."

"I've told these three."

"That's good, now we just have to tell the others. Girls I don't want you leaving this house without someone with you, they have to be of my choosing or I won't allo-Tay stop trying to leave‼"

"I was in the middle of something."

"You will not do anything like that under my roof while I'm still alive."

"We've done it many times before…"

"Enough‼ You're too young as it is‼"

"I was talking about dating," Tay snapped with a smirk, "What were you thinking?"

"I… ah…"

"Speaking of dating could I get back to mine?" Elle asked the door since Sasori hadn't turned around, "I was having a wonderful time before a stupid puppet man came sprinting out of nowhere, threw me over his shoulder, and took off without an explanation."

"You stay."

"I was with the Kazekage‼ Who could possibly beat him?"

"_Deidara…_"

"_I'm going to kill you Tay‼_"

Abi looked at May with a sigh, "_I thought they stopped fighting. And now we're quarantined._"

"_Well this is going to be fun…_"

"_CLAM IT FLAT CHESTED BITCH‼_"

"_EASY WHORE‼_"

Sasori dumped the screaming girl on the ground and walked over to see Pein, "At least they're fighting like normal."

"As long as they're not stressing out over the situation," Pein put a hand over Sasori's shoulder and quickly forced him into a choke hold, "Now if you ever disobey my orders again I will make you live to regret it."

"I… I understand."

* * *

A stone cold stare was shared in the eyes of the Akatsuki who were out and about, looking for the maybe spy that was lurking around the village. It was a warning; anyone could see that, a warning to stay away unless you wanted to die. The warning was immediately picked up by Kakashi the moment he saw Hidan storming down the street, and since he couldn't catch him he turned around and caught Kakuzu as he headed towards him.

"What's going on?"

"Not now Kakashi."

"If you tell me I can help."

"There's a spy, from Tobi, somewhere in the village," Kakuzu stopped his movements but his eyes were still as cold as ice, "We're going to find the bastard, and we're going to make him squeal like a pig."

"What does he look like?"

"I'm not sure; Kisame didn't give us a description of the guy. He only got some useless assuming from his stupid girlfriend."

"So you don't even know if this guy even exists?"

"We're not taking chances."

Kakuzu left before the conversation could go any further, clearly bored with talking to Kakashi about the subject. However Kakashi had become more and more agitated as their short conversation had furthered; they had no information about a possible spy that could take the girls back to Tobi. That was the last thing he wanted. He was going to take action.

"Kakashi Sensei‼" the call from his one female student sparked an idea, his smirk growing as the team drew closer, "What the hell? You're even later than normal."

"You three made it just in time."

"Huh?"

Kakashi continued to stare after Kakuzu temporarily before turning to his team, "I've just been informed about a spy from Tobi inside the village. It's your job to go find this man and take him in, we're not sure what he looks like or what his real intentions are which only makes this mission even more vital. So I repeat, find him and take him in."

"And what are you going to do…" Sasuke asked with the slightest hint of amusement to his voice, "Kakashi Sensei?"

"I'm going to search a different part of the village. I'm not going to slack off if that is what you were implying."

"Of course not."

It wasn't a lie. He wasn't going to slack off. He glided swiftly through the heart of the village until he reached the Akatsuki house, from the sounds of the screams of abuse he assumed that all the girls were inside. Through the window he spotted Pein watching over them, that was all he needed to see.

He just wanted to know that May was safe while he was out looking for the spy.

* * *

So far the observations had gone off without a hitch.

No one had noticed him spying on the house, every day, since the attack on the village. All he was assigned to do was stand around, watch the house, write down observations then send them back to the hideout. Even as he wrote down the Akatsuki's latest activities he felt like he deserved a promotion or a reward of some kind for the extra effort he had put in.

Most of the higher ranked shinobi under Orochimaru's command knew of the desire that Tobi held for the girl named May. She was the leader of the group of the girls, that much was obvious, but no one could see the fascination about her. She fought well but was still inexperienced, she wasn't as attractive as the blonde girl (in his opinion), she was boringly logical and there was nothing particularly special about her either. It just made him even more curious about what Tobi saw in the young girl.

"Hey you."

He froze at the voice, turning around slowly with the most casual smile he could, "Me?"

"Yeah you."

"Yes?"

"That bird," Sasori jerked his head towards the sky, smirking slightly as several kunai flew out of nowhere and took it down, "where _was_ it going?"

"I don't see how that is any of your concern, Sasori-san."

"I think it is my concern, I think that it is the concern of the entire Akatsuki. Do you really want that?" Sasori took a single step towards him, the man trying to back up only to find that Deidara was standing behind him, "Do you really want the entire Akatsuki hunting you down because you have been spying on us?"

"I-I-I haven't been spying on-on you."

Deidara put his hands on the man's shoulder, feeling him tremble as Sasuke and Naruto also came into view, "Who have you been spying on then un?"

"No-no one."

"If we find out you have been spying on someone, or somoeones," Sasori took in another step, watching the man shake in fear, "Then you are going to be in a lot of trouble."

"Me? Trouble?"

"Yes."

"Oh no, whatever will I do?" All trembling ceased, a cocky laugh replaced the high pitch voice, "You really think that I'm afraid of two brats, a man who plays with dolls, and a man you looks like a woman? You're the ones who should be afraid of me."

"Please," Sasuke scoffed at the man's arrogance but put his guard up, "Why exactly should we be afraid of you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"I've had enough of this, I'm taking him in un."

Deidara's hand was steady and firm, hitting the man's weak point and rendering him unconscious altogether. He threw the lump over his shoulder and walked off without informing the others of his actions, the man was going to the torture chambers and everyone knew it.


End file.
